Out of a Clear Blue Sky
by Through Another's Eyes
Summary: Dreams seem to signal that something unexpected is going to happen. Kestrelpaw's dream doesn't just signal this. It tells her. And the unexpected thing about to happen isn't pleasant. Neither is Kestrelpaw's face when she realises - Full Summary inside.
1. The Apprentice Ceremony

**Full Summary:**** Dreams seem to signal that something unexpected is going to happen. Kestrelpaw's dream doesn't just signal this. It tells her. And the unexpected thing about to happen isn't pleasant. Neither is Kestrelpaw's face when she realises that she has been chosen to save her Clan, or die trying. Being the hero has never been Kestrelpaw's thing, but it looks like that this is what she'll have to be, unless she wants to be the cause of her Clan's downfall.**

**I know the summary is funny ( as in odd ), but I honestly couldn't think of anything better to write. I was out of ideas.**

**It has taken me _ages_ to even think of a story to write. I've written drafts and drafts and scribblings and have almost literally banged my head against the wall in frustration at my lack of imagination. Nevertheless, I'm here. I just got up NeoOffice, and sat thinking for about a minute... and BANG! An idea came to me just like that. I can't say it's the best idea in the whole world... but I'm going to give it my best shot. **

**And, _yes_, I know that Daisyheart has five kits, an unusually large amount of kits for a cat from a Clan. I couldn't resist it. Five _is_ my favourite number. **

**And I _also_ know that, at 26 cats ( 15 toms and 11 she-cats ) my SkyClan is rather overpopulated. But I've always thought that SkyClan is probably the most abundant in prey of all the Clans as it has virtually no rival for prey. I may be wrong, but this is just my opinion.**

**Oh, and because Kestrelkit and her brother become apprentices in this chapter, I've listed them as apprentices in the list of SkyClan cats because its easier that way.**

**Oh, and a disclaimer that applies to _all_ of this story:**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Warriors, SkyClan, or anything else that obviously belongs to Erin Hunter. What I _do_ own are: this plot, and all the characters ( except for the odd Warriors series character that is mentioned ) in it. Plus, anything else that obviously does not belong to Erin Hunter. If you dare to accuse me of plagiarism, then you will have a very angry me hunting you down with claws unsheathed. Oh, and no taking anything that I make up here and passing it off as your own! If I catch anybody doing so, there'll be trouble.**

**And, now that we've got that settled, let's get on with the story!**

SkyClan Cats

**Leader: **Greenstar – pale grey tom with green eyes. **Apprentice:** Sparrowpaw

**Deputy: **Spottedfur – tortoishell she-cat with amber eyes. **Apprentice:** Whitepaw

**Medicine Cat:** Birdheart – brown and white tom with grey eyes.

**Medicine Cat Apprentice: **Sandfeather – pale orange she-cat with brown eyes.

**Warriors:**

Stonebrook – grey she-cat with blue eyes.

Blacktail – black tom with brown eyes. **Apprentice:** Squirrelpaw

Willowfur – brown she-cat with pale blue eyes. **Apprentice:** Kestrelpaw

Dustclaw – light brown tom with dark blue eyes.

Thornheart – brown tom with black patches, green eyes.

Redstripe – black tom with one irregular reddish brown stripe running down his flank. Grey eyes.

Fernheart – black and white she-cat with green eyes. **Apprentice:** Bluepaw

Runningfoot – tall dark brown tom with yellow eyes.

**Apprentices:**

Squirrelpaw – tortoishell she-cat with brown eyes. **Mentor:** Blacktail

Whitepaw – white and grey tom with yellow eyes. **Mentor:** Spottedfur

Harepaw – dark grey tom with yellow eyes. **Mentor:** Fernheart

Kestrelpaw – brown she-cat with green eyes. **Mentor: **Willowfur

Sparrowpaw – black and white tom blue eyes. **Mentor: **Greenstar

**Queens: **

Daisyheart – white and brown she-cat with grey eyes.

**Kits:**

Petalkit – white and brown she-cat with dark blue eyes.

Brownkit – pale brown tom with dark blue eyes.

Rockkit – dark brown tom with dark blue eyes.

Stonekit – light brown tom with dark blue eyes.

Tallkit – reddish brown tom with grey eyes.

**Elders:**

Longfoot – tall grey tom with brown eyes.

Darkwhisker – brown and black tom with green eyes.

Smallflower – small white she-cat with yellow eyes.

Poppyfur – red she-cat with green eyes.

The Apprentice Ceremony

"Oh, oh, oh! Guess what's happening today!" Kestrelkit prodded her sleeping brother with her paw excitedly. When he simply mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over, she sighed exasperatedly. "_Sparrowkit_. Today is the most important day of our life and all _you_ can do is sleep! Come _on_! How can you sleep when you simply feel as if you're about to burst with such indescribable excitement at becoming one of the _apprentices_?"

"_You_ feel that. _I_ feel tired and _I_ want to sleep, so get lost," Sparrowkit said rudely, covering his nose with his paw in irritation at his older sister's excitement. Sparrowkit rarely ever got excited. He was just that sort of cat.

"Hey! I'm your _elder_, so you can't tell _me_ to 'get lost'! Plus, I'll be an apprentice _before_ you will be, so hah!" Kestrelkit said, miffed at being ordered around by her brother. Kestrelkit didn't like to be ordered around by anyone, though, so it was hardly something unusual on her part.

"Shoo," her brother mumbled, pushing her away with his paw. "Go and annoy someone else."

"_Fine_. Have it _your_ way," Kestrelkit bounced away, her brother's words barely even ruffling her fur. It was such a glorious day that Kestrelkit thought it would be a shame to get upset over someone as insignificant as she currently thought Sparrowkit to be. Maybe she would go and boast about her soon-to-be position in the Clan to one of the other kits.

"Petalkit! Brownkit! Rockkit! Stonekit! Tallkit!" Kestrelkit called out hopefully, looking around the camp for the kits mentioned. When she didn't find any of them, her tail drooped marginally in disappointment. They must be back in the nursery, sleeping. She hadn't seen them there, but then they were always huddled up in the corner with their mother, in the shadows. They preferred the darker end of the nursery, whereas Kestrelkit adored the lighter end.

Now what would she do? Most of the apprentices found her annoying because of her bouncy ways, and the warriors would tell her to be quiet and go back to the nursery because they were 'busy'. Kestrelkit didn't often _see_ the warriors doing something so important that they couldn't talk to a kit like her, but they obviously thought that what they did was that important. The elders were always preaching about what you should and shouldn't do, and then they would ask to be left alone for their suspiciously frequent 'naps'. The medicine cat was always busy, collecting and sorting out herbs, and caring for sick or injured cats. The medicine cat apprentice was extremely snooty and considered Kestrelkit to be a pest. As for the leader and deputy... they were busy doing things that leaders and deputies did, although Kestrelkit was a bit at a loss at what _exactly_ leaders and deputies did.

Which left... nobody. Being alone was not to Kestrelkit's taste at all, and neither was entertaining herself. She was a social cat, and when left alone she got bored extremely quickly. This was why Kestrelkit had a reputation among the Clan cats of being 'naughty'. In other words, she enjoyed playing pranks on other cats when bored. Who doesn't? Was Kestrelkit's less than sound reasoning.

This was such a time, and Kestrelkit's little mind began to think up pranks, and, more importantly, who to play them on. She decided to play a prank that wouldn't take too much time, and so immediately selected the quickest and simplest one that she could think of. Then she would need a cat who would get suitably annoyed with it, but not annoyed enough to punish her too severely for it. Willowfur would do.

Kestrelkit trotted purposefully towards the warriors' den, glancing around occasionally to make sure that nobody would see her going into the den. It was sun-high, and late new-leaf, so it was getting very hot. Because of this, most cats were either sleeping or dozing off in the shade. None were about to pay attention to a small kit moving steadily towards the warriors' den, however suspicious that might have been on a normal day.

Creeping inside, Kestrelkit sniffed the air. She singled out Willowfur's scent, and followed it to where Willowfur slept, in a corner of the den. Double checking to make sure it wasn't Spottedfur's den, or, StarClan forbid!, Redstripe's, Kestrelkit carefully tore the mossy nest apart. A few moons of experience taught her to do it quietly and carefully, for fear of being discovered in the act. After ripping it to shreds, she piled it up neatly and then made her way out of the warriors' den, careful to make as little noise as possible. It was tempting to go to the medicine cat's den and rip up Sandfeather's nest, but last time she had done that she had been given a severe talking to by her mother and had been forbidden from going outside the nursery for a three days, except when nature called.

"There you are! Come on! Greenstar has called a Clan meeting! He's about to tell us who you're mentor will be, but he's been waiting for you! Oh look at you! You're all dusty! Oh dear StarClan, whatever shall I do? I can't have the Clan thinking that I'm too lazy to make my kits look presentable!" Stonebrook, Kestrelkit's mother, fussed over the kit worriedly. Kestrelkit gave her mother a disapproving look as she trotted over to where her brother was sitting, his pelt shining in the sun.

"_Mum_. You're embarrassing me. I'm _fine_. Look! My paws aren't muddy, my pelt is reasonably clean! Nobody's going to notice," Kestrelkit moaned, and flicked her tail at her mother to show her that she was finding her annoying. It wasn't the politest thing to do to your elders, but Kestrelkit couldn't help it.

"Kestrelkit," Greenstar bellowed, and Kestrelkit jumped. She thought that he had found out what she had done to Willowfur's nest, and prepared herself for the lecture. She was thoroughly surprised when he continued: "You have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Kestrelpaw. I ask StarClan to watch over you and guide you until you find in your paws the strength and courage of a warrior."

Kestrelpaw sucked her breath in in excitement as she listened intently for the name of her mentor. To her disappointment, Greenstar seemed to be content in taking his time to announce this part, but finally he continued, his voice amused as he gazed down at Kestrelpaw who was flicking her tail impatiently.

"Willowfur, you are ready to take on an apprentice," Kestrelpaw gasped in horror, and shot a guilty glance at the brown she-cat whose nest she had just torn to shreds. "You have received excellent training from Longfoot, and you have shown yourself to be determined and loyal. You will be mentor to Kestrelpaw, and I hope that you will pass on all you know to Kestrelpaw."

Willowfur looked as alarmed as Kestrelpaw looked, although it was more because she was worried about how she would manage to train Kestrelpaw than about what Kestrelpaw had done to her in the past. Some of the other cats murmured words of comfort to the brown she-cat, who was looking more alarmed by the minute as her mind listed the faults of Kestrelpaw and the cures for the faults.

"Sparrowkit, you too have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to become apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Sparrowpaw. I ask StarClan to watch over you and guide you until you find in your paws the strength and courage of a warrior," Greenstar looked warmly at the newly named Sparrowpaw before continuing. "I will take you on as my apprentice, and will do my best to pass on all I know to you."

Kestrelpaw felt a brief prickle of jealousy. Why did her _brother_ get to be the leader's apprentice? What had he done that was so good? He wasn't _that_ special... was he? Did Greenstar choose him for a reason other than favouritism? Kestrelpaw hurriedly forced the jealousy to disappear, not wanting to ruin this fantastic day with petty feelings.

Kestrelpaw padded over to where Willowfur was, and touched noses with her new mentor. She had almost forgotten to do that. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her brother do the same to his new mentor. The leader. Greenstar. _Stop it!_ Kestrelpaw told herself firmly.

"Kestrelpaw! Sparrowpaw! Kestrelpaw! Sparrowpaw!" the Clan chanted with enthusiasm, or, at least, Kestrelpaw _hoped _that it was enthusiasm. She didn't know what she'd do if it was a negative emotion that they were chanting her name with.

"Welcome to the apprentices, furball," Squirrelpaw congratulated Kestrelpaw teasingly, and ducked to avoid a paw that was heading in her direction. Then the tortoiseshell she-cat turned to Sparrowpaw. "And you, too. Congratulations on being the leader's apprentice as well. Lucky thing."

"Welcome to the apprentices, you two," Whitepaw and Harepaw, brothers and the two other apprentices said at exactly the same time. Squirrelpaw shook her head sadly at the two toms, and whispered something to them. Kestrelpaw couldn't quite make out what she said, but it sounded something like 'That's _really_ off-putting, mousebrains'.

"Oh my little kits are apprentices now! Times flies by so quickly," Stonebrook said emotionally, licking her two kits on the head. "I'm so proud of you two! I can't believe Greenstar chose _you_ to be his apprentice, sweetheart! And _Kestrelpaw_, I hope you'll be good to Willowfur. You're quite a pawful, darling."

Kestrelpaw rolled her eyes at her mother. "_Mum_. I _know_. I'll be good."

"As good as she can be, anyway," Sparrowpaw said with unusual humour, and Kestrelpaw heard a few cats chuckling at his, in her opinion, extremely bad joke. Life was so unfair sometimes. Nevertheless, Kestrelpaw was always one to look on the bright side, so she allowed his comment to bounce off her.

"Honey, don't make fun of your sister," Stonebrook scolded, but Kestrelpaw knew that her mother wasn't all that serious. Stonebrook rarely was. It was something that Kestrelpaw had inherited, although she did possess something that her mother didn't. Common sense.

"Mother, I'm an apprentice. I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that," Sparrowpaw said seriously, and then he padded over to where the older apprentices were. Kestrelpaw followed more slowly, wondering why their mother couldn't be more mature.

**Okay... I know that was a weird chapter. And I know that Stonebrook is a rather weird cat. But I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it. **


	2. The Other Apprentices

**Second chapter...**

The Other Apprentices

Kestrelpaw had never had much to do with any of the older apprentices. Squirrelpaw was five moons older than her, and Harepaw and Whitepaw were three or four moons older. She vaguely remembered the brothers' apprentice ceremony, and being extremely bored by it, wishing that she could be an apprentice as well.

The other three apprentices had always treated her like a kit, too. This had made her dislike them intensely, because she hated being treated as if she was inferior to them. As revenge, she had often played pranks on them, and got them into trouble on purpose. All in all, she was regarded as some sort of parasite by them, and they were regarded as some sort of disease by her. Now, though, Kestrelpaw wondered whether it might be better to be on good terms with them as they now shared the same den. Sparrowpaw was getting on extremely well with all of them, but she had yet to say more than a 'yes' or 'no' to them since her ceremony yesterday.

There was also the small problem of her mother, who was getting increasingly embarrassing. Or maybe Stonebrook was as embarrassing as she'd always been, and it was Kestrelpaw who was getting increasingly conscious of it. Either way, something had to be done about it. But that could wait. A few more days of embarrassingness, if that was such a word, wouldn't hurt her. Right now, she had to focus on learning. Speaking of which...

"Kestrelpaw! Pay attention! What did I just say?" Willowfur said in exasperation.

"Um... um... to pay attention?" Kestrelpaw said sheepishly, glancing at her mentor to make sure that Willowfur wasn't too fed up with Kestrelpaw not paying attention to her training.

"No. I said that you have to be careful when attacking a cat bigger than you because they normally are able to defeat you easily because of their size," Willowfur explained clearly, hoping that her apprentice hadn't taken it into her head to play another prank. She sincerely hoped that that wasn't what Kestrelpaw had been thinking about a few minutes ago.

"Not if the cat's bigger as in _fatter_ than you are. Then _you_ have the advantage," Kestrelpaw pointed out cheekily.

Willowfur chose to ignore the remark, and continued seriously. "If the cat is _older _than you, too, you can assume that he or she will know more about fighting than you do. Normally, though, you don't take the time to ask how old a cat is, so you'll have to just do a rough guess. It's true that there are cats who are very young and are very experienced in fighting, but it's best if we talk about that later. When faced with an opponent who has clearly got an advantage over you in nearly everything, rely on something that you're good at. For example, speed. If the opponent is a heavily built cat, you can..."

Kestrelpaw's mind began to wander as her mentor continued to talk. Seriously, what was she learning from all this chatter? It was like going around in circles. Willowfur must be slightly soft in the head if she thought that Kestrelpaw was going to understand all of what she had just said. There must be something more interesting that she could do. Why couldn't they just practice the _fighting_ bit? That must be much more educational than just _talking_ about fighting.

"... and these moves will all help you fight against an opponent of your own size, or about your own size. We will now practice two moves referred to as 'front paw blow' and 'back-kick'. Both can be performed with relatively easily even by the most inexperienced apprentice. Neither are lethal," Willowfur explained authoritatively, and then proceeded to demonstrate the first move mentioned. She brought her paw down hard on Kestrelpaw's head, and the apprentice winced. "That was the front paw blow. I actually didn't do it very hard. Usually it is performed with twice that strength, and, in some cases, _may_ knock your opponent unconscious, if your opponent is a weakling. Normally it will stun your opponent at the best. Now... the back-kick is performed _only_ when your opponent is behind you. When this happens, you do this."

Willowfur lashed out with her back legs at the air, balancing on her front paws for a second or two before coming back down on all fours. "That is the back-kick. Now... it's your turn."

Kestrelpaw looked around for something to bring her front paw down on, and, finding only Willowfur's head available, she brought it down on that, making sure not to do it too hard. She didn't want her mentor to have any more reasons to dislike her than she already did.

Willowfur nodded in part disapproval, part approval. "Well done. But you could've given me some warning before hurting my head. Now demonstrate the back-kick."

Kestrelpaw tried to do what Willowfur had done, but it took her several goes before she could do even partially right. She found it a bit difficult to _not_ wobble when her front paws were forced to take her weight, but after a little while she started to get the hang of it.

Willowfur was nodding slowly, her expression unreadable. Finally she flicked her tail at Kestrelpaw to show her that that was enough. "Well done. You may need a bit more practice with that, but I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to master that move within a few days."

"How long did it take you?" Kestrelpaw asked curiously, sitting down.

"A day," Willowfur answered shortly. Then she said abruptly, "Now, we shall go hunting. I'll teach you more moves tomorrow, and then see how we go from there."

"O-okay... I thought we were going to go back and eat first, though?" Kestrelpaw questioned uncertainly, not sure if she should be asking the question in the first place. Her brother had said that she shouldn't question her elders, but then what did he know about it?

"Now that you are an apprentice, you must learn to first provide for the Clan, and _then_ eat," Willowfur said firmly, giving her apprentice a glare, and proving Sparrowpaw right.

Kestrelpaw said nothing, and followed Willowfur as they went to hunt deeper into SkyClan's territory. She had forgotten about that. Eating after the Clan was provided for, that is. If her brother had been here, he would have been sure to start on a lecture about how ignorance and forgetfulness got you nowhere, and how you'd eventually realise what the price for it was.

* * *

"Hey, Kestrelpaw!" Squirrelpaw acknowledged the other she-cat with a nod. "How did your first training session go? You're lucky to have Willowfur as your mentor. She's a really easygoing cat, and won't punish you unnecessarily. Blacktail is a really strict mentor, y'know? He has to have everything _perfect_. Luckily, I seem to do okay, so he isn't too harsh on me. Poor Runningfoot had an awful time. He wasn't good enough for Blacktail, you see, and Blacktail was terribly stern with him. But Runningfoot's turned out okay, don't you think?"

"Well... I don't have much to do with him, but yeah... from what I know of him," Kestrelpaw said, surprised at the friendliness in the tortoiseshell she-cat's tone. She had thought they wouldn't be on very... well... _friendly_ terms at that moment.

"I hope we'll be better friends now that we're both apprentices... although, mind you, I'm going to be a warrior soon. But we've got at least a moon to be apprentices together, which is a long time, right?" Squirrelpaw mused thoughtfully, more to herself than to Kestrelpaw.

"Um... yeah," Kestrelpaw said uncomfortably, and then excused herself. She found Squirrelpaw a bit unnerving, although she couldn't understand why. There wasn't anything _bad _about the tortoiseshell she-cat, it was just that she had an aura of something that Kestrelpaw couldn't understand, but nevertheless didn't like.

Slowly, the brown she-cat padded towards the exit of the camp. She knew that apprentices weren't generally allowed outside of camp by themselves, but since when had she cared about rules like that? As long as she was careful, and stayed close to the camp, nothing that bad could happen to her. If it did, then at least the camp was within earshot, and she could call for help.

The sky was clear blue, and the air was stiflingly hot now. It was the sort of weather that made one want to go to sleep, although Kestrelpaw doubted that _she_ would fall asleep at barely past mid-day. She had never been one for naps, which the other cats found odd, as they went to sleep whenever it was possible. Lazy-bones. She could tell that green-leaf would be absolutely boiling, unless StarClan decided to change the weather. The elders insisted that StarClan was capable of doing that, but Kestrelpaw wasn't so sure. It wasn't that she didn't believe in StarClan... it was just that she didn't believe in StarClan's _powers_.

She sat down under a big tree, which provided a large amount of shade for her. A slight wind rustled the leaves of the trees and plants surrounding her, and she inhaled deeply, wondering whether it would be a good idea to go hunting again. Willowfur wouldn't mind if she came back with some more prey. In fact, nobody would mind. More prey was welcome at all times. For some reason though, Kestrelpaw's body refused to budge from where she was sitting. Her bones seemed to rebel. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing, a little nap couldn't hurt... could it? Her eyelids drooped before her brain could react in surprise to the fact that she had just thought of a nap in an almost _approving_ way.

The wind picked up, and a few leaves swirled down to the ground. One fell onto Kestrelpaw's nose, and she sneezed. She felt consciousness slipping away from her, and the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep was a curious kestrel looking at her in puzzlement.

* * *

"My, my, what do we have here?" a voice said contemptuously.

Kestrelpaw struggled to open her eyes. When she did, she saw two toms that seemed extremely familiar. Harepaw and Whitepaw. She heaved herself to her feet before sleep overcame her again. The heat did nothing to aid her in her struggles to stay awake.

"You've caused a bit of a fuss in camp, did you know that? Willowfur wasn't happy at all, and neither was Greenstar. Whatever happened to not going out of camp alone? _Especially_ when you're an apprentice? You do realise that it's forbidden?" Whitepaw said in disdain as he looked down on her.

"When has that ever stopped her? She's _never_ done what she's supposed to do. I do believe that Greenstar thinks he has made her an apprentice too early," Harepaw gazed at her scornfully.

"That's not true!" Kestrelpaw exclaimed in horror. She thought of how disappointed her mother would be if she had her training post-poned because of her behaviour. "I _do_ do what I'm told."

"Oh yeah?" Whitepaw said disbelievingly, and then he turned around and began walking towards the camp.

"I _do_!" Kestrelpaw's eyes widened in alarm when she realised that what would happen if nobody in the Clan would support this claim. Maybe she was overreacting. Her brother and mother would most definitely support her. She refused to believe otherwise.

"Good luck with convincing Greenstar _that_," Harepaw mewed condescendingly, and then turned to follow his brother back to the camp. After a moment's hesitation, Kestrelpaw followed him reluctantly.

The moment she entered the camp, she felt the other cats' glares burning into her fur. She really had caused trouble this time. Glancing up at the sky, she realised to her horror that it was growing dark. She must have been asleep for hours! No wonder everyone was giving her hard looks.

"Kestrelpaw! Where have you been?" Stonebrook ran up to her daughter, concern in her eyes.

"_Sleeping_," Harepaw and Whitepaw said at the same time, causing Stonebrook to sigh.

"Kestrelpaw, I want to see you in my den _now_," Greenstar commanded, and when Kestrelpaw didn't budge, he added. "Not obeying my orders won't make matters better."

Kestrelpaw hurriedly followed Greenstar into his den, her eyes on the ground. She couldn't bear to meet the eyes of her brother or mother, for that matter. Not to mention her _father_, Thornheart. He would be so ashamed of her. He prided himself on being the perfect warrior. He always obeyed the warrior code, he obeyed the leader without question, he was polite and hard-working, _and_ he was an excellent hunter and fighter. Sparrowpaw was his favourite child, but that didn't mean that he didn't expect her to live up to his expectations as well.

The leader's den was cool and dark, and it took Kestrelpaw a few seconds to adjust her eyes to the dark. Once she had, she immediately regretted it. Greenstar's expression, what she could see of it, that was, was disapproving and disappointed at the same time. When he opened his mouth to speak, she automatically lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Kestrelpaw, I expected better of you," Greenstar began slowly, as if choosing his every word with the utmost care. "I believed that once you had become an apprentice, you would realise the time for games and misbehaving was over. You are on your way to becoming a warrior, and therefore have far more responsibilities than before, including that of setting an example to those younger than you. It is fortunate that what you did today was not as big a _mistake_, if that is what it was, as it could have been. You must realise that there are reasons for an apprentice such as yourself not to be allowed out of camp."

"I know there are...," Kestrelpaw mumbled incoherently. She knew that this particular incident wouldn't be forgotten for quite a while.

"Rogues are out there, as are other dangerous creatures. For an inexperienced cat to go out without even saying a _word_ about it is foolish to say the least. Your mother was more worried than words can say, as was your father. You achieve nothing by disobeying the rules, Kestrelpaw. I hope you have learned your lesson," Greenstar sighed. She could sense no anger in him, just exasperation and... worry?

"I have, Greenstar," Kestrelpaw said, hoping that he had finished.

"As a punishment, though, you will be forbidden to leave camp for the rest of today, as well as the next five days. During those days, you will make sure the elders are looked after, and that the queens are, too. There will also be no going outside the camp for a moon unless it is for your training, and when you do go outside of camp with Willowfur, you must consult Spottedfur or myself first. Understood?" Greenstar said firmly.

"Yes, Greenstar," Kestrelpaw nodded vigorously, glad that her punishment hadn't been worse. Although what was worse than being forbidden to go outside camp for five days she couldn't imagine. Unless it was being forbidden to go outside of camp for several moons. But she doubted any leader was that harsh.

"One more thing, I expect you to train extra hard afterwards to make up for this," Greenstar said, and then dismissed her before she could say anything else.

Kestrelpaw padded outside the den with her head down once again. The punishment was, on second thought, unusually harsh for Greenstar. He was generally quite lenient when a member of the Clan did something wrong, unless it was very serious.

Her first day as an apprentice and she was banned from leaving camp for five days. _Nice going, Kestrelpaw_, she thought to herself.

**Okay, so I know the punishment was a bit weird... but whatever. I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**


	3. Green Leaf

**Thank you so much to World of Make Believe & AutumnGrove for reviewing! **

**AutomnGrove: Thanks for pointing that out, I'll correct them after writing this chapter.**

**World of Make Believe: Your review has just given me an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but... we'll see.**

**Warning: This is a _really_ pointless chapter. Just one that I suppose you could call a 'filler-in'. I love filler-ins, although I'm aware that a lot of people detest them. If so... em... sorry.**

Green-Leaf

The dry leaves crackled beneath her paws as Kestrelpaw crept forward stealthily, her gaze locked on a plump squirrel that was blissfully unaware of the cat's presence. It was a miracle that it hadn't already heard her, with the way the leaves were rustling and crackling under her paws with every step. Maybe the squirrel was deaf. Kestrelpaw highly doubted this, but there was always a slim chance.

Tensing, she leaped at the squirrel and bit into its neck. Then she dropped it to the ground, and stretched. Her muscles were aching with the work she had been doing in the past few days, to 'make up' for not being able to train for five days in a row. That was a moon ago, though. Now she was free. Well... not exactly. She was free to go out of camp, so long as she informed at least one other cat of this. _And_ if it was for a useful purpose. Such as hunting.

Carefully, she picked the squirrel up again and began to make her way back to camp. On the way, she stopped to pick up a mouse the she had caught earlier. It wasn't much, true, but prey was getting more scarce as the weather grew ever warmer. It hadn't rained for just under a moon, but that wasn't unusual. There had been several times, according to the older warriors and the elders, when it hadn't rained for two moons.

She padded into the camp and dropped the prey she had caught onto the small pile of fresh-kill. Then she let out a long breath as she looked around the camp for someone to talk to. She had promised herself that she wouldn't misbehave for the rest of her apprenticeship, and she was so far doing reasonably well... although there had been that tempting moment when Redstripe had briefly left his piece of prey unattended. It had been so hard not to swap it with something less appetising, but she had convinced herself that it wouldn't do any good.

"Kestrelpaw, you're going to go out on a patrol with Harepaw, Redstripe, and Fernheart at sundown, okay?" Willowfur informed the apprentice seriously. "Which is in about... a few minutes. Bluepaw's already waiting near the exit... I suggest you wait there as well."

Kestrelpaw groaned in dismay, and walked over slowly to the dark grey tom. StarClan did this on purpose to annoy her, she was sure. Then she scolded herself for thinking of StarClan in such an unflattering way. Her father was always going on about how she should be more respectful of StarClan and not question them so much. It was difficult, though. There were just so many questions that she was sure StarClan _could_ answer, but just didn't _feel_ like answering. This annoyed her intensely.

"Hello, mousebrain," Harepaw greeted her coldly, not even bothering to look at her.

"Hello, foxdung," Kestrelpaw returned his greeting cheerfully, determined not to show him how much she disliked him. It would annoy him far more if she just stayed cheerful, that much she knew.

There was a long, uncomfortable pause. Kestrelpaw amused herself by thinking of all the possible things she could do to Harepaw to annoy him. Harepaw amused himself by thinking of all the possible insults that he could use to insult Kestrelpaw.

"How long have you two been waiting there?" Fernheart trotted up to them, purring. "I just managed to wake Redstripe up. He's such a furball, and a _lazy_ one at that."

Kestrelpaw looked at the she-cat in shock. How could anyone _dare_ to call Redstripe that? He was well-known to have one of the hottest tempers out of all the cats in the Clan, and was a fearsome warrior, too. He was one of the cats that Kestrelpaw found truly frightening at times, and it took a _lot_ to really and truly frighten Kestrelpaw.

"Here he is! Lazy-bones, get over here! The rogues will have been and gone by the time we finally get to the border," Fernheart called to the black tom cheerfully. He simply glared back at her, as if his anger couldn't be described in words.

The four cats walked out of camp, Fernheart setting a brisk pace. She obviously wanted to get the patrol over and done with as quickly as possible. Fernheart was apparently scared of the dark, although Kestrelpaw couldn't think why. There was nothing scary about the dark, to her. In fact, it was her favourite time of the day... or, rather, the night.

Nothing eventful happened during the trip to the border. It had to be one of the most boring patrols that she had ever been on, Kestrelpaw was sure of it. She could have gone to sleep on her paws it was so boring. Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration. But she figured she could tell it like that to her brother and mother. Her father would demand a more serious account of the patrol, if she ever got around to telling him about it.

Kestrelpaw trailed behind as they headed back to the camp, Fernheart and Redstripe having been satisfied that the Clan was under no threat at that moment. Harepaw was boasting about how good he had been at some training session that he had participated in earlier, and Kestrelpaw had been sent to the back after having deliberately yawned several times in quick succesion.

A bird fluttered from one branch to another above her, and she glanced up briefly. A small kestrel gazed back down at her, eyes alight and curious. Kestrelpaw stopped, and stared back up at, wondering why the bird seemed strangely familiar. She had seen it before, of that she was sure. The possibility that the one she had seen before might have been a different kestrel didn't occur to her. She knew that she had seen it before. But where? Her mind raced back, thinking of every possible place she could have seen it. It landed on one particular event. Just before she had fallen asleep nearly a moon ago, she could've sworn she had seen that kestrel.

"Kestrelpaw! What are you waiting for! Come _on_," Fernheart called over her shoulder, startling both Kestrelpaw and the bird, the latter of which flew off in fright.

"I'm coming!" Kestrelpaw hurried after the patrol, the kestrel forgotten.

**This story is sounding really odd. Especially the language. It's more like language a teenager would use... not really a warrior cat language. Oh well. This is for my enjoyment, and, hopefully, my readers. **


	4. Mouse Bile

**Thank you to AutumnGrove for reviewing! Haha... I told you it was a boring chapter :). I hope this chapter is more interesting.**

**And, in case you were wondering, the actual _exciting _stuff isn't going to happen for another two chapters at the very least. Unless, that is, I change my mind. Haha, I've changed my mind a lot about where my stories go. **

Mouse Bile

"_What_ did I tell you about sleeping whilst on guard duty?" Willowfur yelled at Kestrelpaw, who ducked her head in embarrassment. The apprentice shot an murderous glare at Harepaw, who was sniggering. It was _his_ fault. If he hadn't ratted on her, then this wouldn't have happened. Okay, so maybe she had fallen asleep. But it was hot! And she was tired! She had just had an exhausting training session with Willowfur, so who could blame her for falling asleep? Willowfur should've known better than to place an tired apprentice on guard duty.

"The _one_ duty that I trusted you with! I was certain that you couldn't fail to just _keep watch_. Obviously I was wrong. I'm disappointed in you, Kestrelpaw," Willowfur said furiously, half embarrassed at what the other cats must think of her. They would think that she had been training Kestrelpaw badly. She was Kestrelpaw's mentor, and therefore responsible for the young apprentice's actions.

"I was tired. And it was _really_ hot," Kestrelpaw muttered, looking down at her paws. The world was so unfair sometimes. Here she had been thinking how well she was doing. It had been just over a moon since her punishment for falling asleep outside of camp without telling anybody where she was. StarClan was against her, she was sure of it.

"It's called _lazy_," Harepaw said annoyingly, and Kestrelpaw hissed. He would regret this. She would make sure of that.

"Shut up, Harepaw. This is not of any concern to _you_," Kestrelpaw growled menacingly, unsheathing her claws. The action comforted her, and helped her to calm down a bit. Clawing him wouldn't be the best option, but at least she could _imagine_ sinking her claws into his fur. And his yowls of pain.

"... punishment necessary. Understood?" Willowfur asked her apprentice, who looked back at her blankly, having paid no attention whatsoever to what the other she-cat had been saying. "Have you even been listening to me, Kestrelpaw?"

"Er... um... no?" Kestrelpaw mumbled sheepishly, and ducked her head once again. Willowfur was going to be so mad. And her own family would be disappointed. She always had to ruin things, didn't she?

"KESTRELPAW!" Willowfur thundered, outraged. "Why do you _never_ listen? Why? Why? Harepaw, tell Greenstar that I'm going to be hunting for a while. As for _you_, don't expect me to go easy on you. This is the fourth time this _week_ that you have failed to pay attention to what I've been saying. The _fourth_ time!"

Kestrelpaw watched silently as her mentor stormed out of camp, and then glanced nervously around at the other Clan cats. They stared back at her in disapproval, and then continued doing whatever it was they had been doing before Willowfur had lost her temper. Kestrelpaw's tail drooped. They must think she was an awful apprentice. She had lost count of the times that Willowfur had lost her temper with her, because of her disobedience, her short attention span, or her rudeness.

"Well done, _mousebrain_," Harepaw snickered, and trotted off towards the leader's den to inform Greenstar of Willowfur's temporary departure. Kestrelpaw shot him a glance filled with loathing when his back was turned. He would regret it. Yes he would.

Speaking of which... now might be the time to make him regret what he had said. She glanced around for inspiration, and her eyes landing on the medicine cat den. Perfect. What she would do to him would leave a bad taste in his mouth for days. Literally. Her time spent looking after the elders wasn't going to be wasted.

Kestrelpaw trotted over to the medicine cat's den, and began sniffing around. Fortunately, the medicine cat and the medicine cat apprentice had gone out foraging for herbs, so the den was empty of cats. A particularly foul smell came from a niche in the corner of the den, and she chuckled. The smell was familiar to her, thanks to her punishment last moon. Peeking outside, she assured herself that Harepaw had not yet left Greenstar's den.

Walking over to the foul smelling stuff, she dabbed her paws in it, making sure to only do it lightly, for fear of other cats noticing the smell too quickly. Then, nodding in satisfaction, she trotted over to the fresh-kill pile, examining it. Harepaw always seemed to eat at around this time of day, and he always picked the best piece of prey for himself. The best piece of prey in this case was a particularly plump pigeon. Looking around to make sure nobody would see what she was about to do, she rubbed her paws all over the pigeon, and, just in case Harepaw didn't take the pigeon, she rubbed her paws on a fat squirrel. Then she retreated to the corner of the camp, looking at her paws in distaste. She would have to clean them later.

Harepaw and Greenstar exited the den, chatting amiably to each other. Neither spotted the brown apprentice gazing at them in anticipation. Or, rather, she gazed at the apprentice in anticipation.

Harepaw picked up the pigeon, as expected. He didn't seem to notice the foul smell that Kestrelpaw would have immediately recognised if she were him. He obviously didn't do elder duties much. Kestrelpaw stifled a chuckle as Harepaw settled down near the pile to eat.

She was just about to reveal herself, when, to her utmost horror, Greenstar picked up the squirrel. Kestrelpaw sat frozen as the leader padded over to where Harepaw was waiting for him. The two toms bit into their prey in unison, and then, almost as if it had been rehearsed, they both spat out the prey. Kestrelpaw shuddered, her eyes wide as she saw them take a sniff of their prey... and then...

"KESTRELPAW!" they both yelled, causing the other cats to turn and stare at them.

_Oh bother_... Kestrelpaw winced when they both spotted her at exactly the same time. Greenstar got up and padded over to her, followed closely by Harepaw. The two glared at her, Harepaw's gaze filled with considerably more venom than his leader's.

"You little piece of foxdung, how _dare_ you?" Harepaw growled at Kestrelpaw, but Greenstar silenced him with a flick of his tail.

"I will take it from here, Harepaw. You can get rid of the tainted prey, and check that she has not meddled with any of the others," Greenstar dismissed the younger tom, who reluctantly obeyed his leader, but not without first shooting Kestrelpaw a 'Don't-Think-This-Is-Over' look.

"I... I...," Kestrelpaw stammered, looking away from her leader. "I didn't mean... I... I didn't want..."

Greenstar looked at her sharply, and then sighed. "Kestrelpaw, please explain to me why you wanted to rub _mouse bile_ over _two_ pieces of prey?"

Kestrelpaw shuffled her paws, searching for a way to explain her actions without landing herself into more trouble than she was already in. "Well... Harepaw was... um... being... annoying. I... I..."

"You wanted to get revenge?" when she nodded, Greenstar let out a long breath. "Kestrelpaw, how many times have I, and your parents, told you that revenge never ends well?"

"I don't know...," Kestrelpaw mumbled, and then she decided that apology would be the best way out of this mess. "I didn't mean for you to eat the other piece of prey. I was going to get rid of that piece later on. I just didn't want to take chances... you know, in case Harepaw _didn't_ take the..."

Kestrelpaw trailed off, realising that she wasn't helping matters by explaining why she had put mouse bile on _two_ pieces of prey. There was a short pause, and then Kestrelpaw blurted out. "I'm sorry. I really am!"

Greenstar turned his gaze on her sternly. "It seems that you have yet to realise that 'sorry' does not solve everything. Especially when you are more than likely to do something very similar, if not the same thing, again. What I want from you is a solemn promise that you will _never_ do such a thing again. Can you promise that?"

Her mouth open and shut several times. She couldn't promise that! If she promised that she wouldn't do it again, she would die of boredom being _good_. She didn't want to end up like her brother, whose brain must surely have been reduced to the size of a mouse due to his seemingly limited response to a question, and his _extremely_ limited sense of fun. When accused of something, all Sparrowpaw could ever seem to do was look innocent and say 'sorry' and cats believed him. He never did _anything_ wrong. His answers were always right, and he got away with things that Kestrelpaw could only dream of getting away with.

"If you cannot do that, then I'm afraid you must first apologise to Harepaw for what you have done, and afterwards spend half a moon on elder duties. You must realise that actions have consequences, Kestrelpaw," Greenstar said sadly, and then shook his head. "Also, you falling asleep whilst on guard duty was unacceptable. You need to take life more seriously. Now, go apologise to Harepaw."

Kestrelpaw felt humiliated as she padded over to the dark grey tom. Apologising to _Harepaw_ for doing something that he had deserved? It couldn't have been worse for her. Not to mention elder duties for another _half moon_. How was she ever going to become a warrior this way? What if she _never_ became a warrior? What if she was stuck being an apprentice forever? The horror! Watching Harepaw become a warrior, and forever having to endure his taunts whilst she was stuck doing elder duties for the rest of her life.

"Come to apologise to me, have you?" Harepaw said, his voice smug. How she hated his voice! "So you should. It's a shame that your parents aren't in camp to watch you. Imagine how disappointed they'd be."

That was it! How dare he say such a thing! No matter that it was true, the very fact that he commented on how disappointed her parents would be with her was enough to make Kestrelpaw's self-control snap. It was none of his business! What her parents felt was between herself and them, and who was he to judge on what their emotions towards her actions would be? Wasn't it bad enough that he was smug and rude and horrible, as well as unintelligent and mean.

"_No_. I have _not_ come to apologise to you! You don't deserve it! I've come to do _this_ to you," Kestrelpaw practiced the move her mentor had shown her on her first day of training. The front paw blow. She brought her paw down hard on the older apprentice's head, and then stalked off, heading towards the camp exit. She ignored Greenstar's voice calling out her name angrily, and Harepaw's hiss of annoyance and pain. She ignored all of them.

Once out of camp, she relaxed, her anger slowly fading away. It was then that it struck her. She had disobeyed her leader. She had just broken the warrior code. The word of the Clan leader is law, the warrior code stated. And she wasn't even eight moons old!

Kestrelpaw's heart felt as if a rock had just been placed upon it, and not just any little rock. A very heavy rock. She wondered if she would be exiled from SkyClan, and shuddered at the thought. How would she survive? How would she live without her family and the rest of SkyClan? She hoped that Greenstar would give her another chance.

_Why would he? He's already given you too many chances. Each and every time you've disappointed him._

Kestrelpaw looked in the direction of SkyClan camp, and sighed. Why did she always do the wrong things? Why couldn't she do the right thing for _once_ in her life?

"Kestrelpaw! Kestrelpaw! Where are you?" a voice called out, and Kestrelpaw froze. They must have come to exile her. The official words of exile would be spoken. She would be the first apprentice in the history of SkyClan to be exiled. Moons from now, kits would be told never to be naughty, unless they wanted to end up 'like Kestrelpaw did'.

Taking a deep breath, and deciding to get this over and done with, Kestrelpaw called out. "I'm here!"

When she saw Greenstar's face, she looked down at the ground in shame. The SkyClan leader padded over to where Kestrelpaw sat, and looked at her critically. "Kestrelpaw..."

"I know, I know. I'm going to be exiled. Just get this over and done with, please. I don't want to make it any more painful than it already is," Kestrelpaw cut in before Greenstar could finish his sentence. The tom's eyes widened with surprise at her words, and then he chuckled softly.

"Don't be silly. You're not going to be exiled. I'd just appreciate it if you would come back to camp and apologise to Harepaw. No, don't give me that look. It's necessary. When you see Willowfur again, apologise to her, too. I expect you to behave far better than this in the future, though," Greenstar said to her, serious again. Kestrelpaw felt like she was having déjà vu. Hadn't he said the same thing to her at least ten times in the past moon? And hadn't she always replied like she was about to?

"I'll try, Greenstar," Kestrelpaw said, and then, for good measure, she added. "Really and truly."

Greenstar's eyes softened a bit, and he nodded. He turned around, and began to pad towards the camp, Kestrelpaw following him. The walk back to the camp was silent, neither saying a word to each other, although both for different reasons. Greenstar because he was occupied with his thoughts, and Kestrelpaw because she was busy thinking of how she would repay Greenstar for his kindness to her. Just before they entered the camp again, Greenstar turned to her and said in a low voice:

"Maybe you could try to be a bit more like Sparrowpaw?"

**Ahahaha! Poor Kessie. She does try to be good, but can't resist playing pranks on other cats. It's in her nature. But it's really fun to write about... so hurrah! This was actually my favourite chapter to write, because it was more creative than the others, in a way.**


	5. The Dream

**Thank you to AutumnGrove and World of Make Believe for reviewing!**

**This is the chapter in which Kestrelpaw has a dream. One of many that she'll have, if things go as planned. Which, in my case, they often don't. Anyway... onto the chapter!**

**Warning: This chapter is _very_ odd. **

The Dream

Wind whipped around her, causing her fur to go in all directions imaginable. Her eyes were screwed shut tightly, although she didn't know why. The air tasted sharper than usual, and down below she could hear the splash of water. Some sort of bird called out overhead, its voice harsher than the voices of the birds in SkyClan's territory. Which meant...

Kestrelpaw's eyes snapped open, and her eyes were stung by the fierce wind that lashed around her. She glanced around, realising that she really wasn't in SkyClan territory any more. The thought frightened and excited her at the same time. Not in SkyClan's territory! She had never set foot outside of SkyClan's territory in her whole life. Oh, wait. Excluding that time a few days after she had been made an apprentice, when she had taken it into her head to go and explore her surroundings. By which she had meant 'escape' from her lifestyle for a little while. She had been punished for that.

Far below her, the water was acting as if it had a life of its own. It danced and reared up, then sunk back down again. It sounded like it had a voice, too. One that involved a lot of splashing, mixed with the wind's howling. She wondered where this place was. It was beautiful, to her mind. Wild and beautiful. Beautiful, that is, until something white dropped from the sky and landed right next to her. Kestrelpaw wrinkled her nose, and stepped cautiously away from it.

She turned around, and swept her gaze over the landscape behind her. It had grass spread all over it, although it seemed that the grass was rooted in the sand. The idea of such a thing interested her, and she leaned over to sniff the nearest clump of grass curiously. It smelled slightly different, too. Like ordinary grass... but sharper, as if all that time spent in the wild wind had given it a new smell. Which it probably had.

There was a small shuffling noise coming from her left, and she turned towards the noise, surprised to see a small kestrel looking up at her with just as much curiosity as she herself had regarded the grass with a few seconds earlier.

"Well... hello. Haven't I seen you before?" Kestrelpaw asked the bird, wondering why she was wasting her time talking to a _bird_ of all creatures.

To her great shock, the bird opened its mouth and replied. "Kestrelpaw."

"Y-y-y-you just s-s-spoke!" Kestrelpaw stammered in astonishment, quickly rethinking her opinion of the bird.

"Kestrelpaw," the bird repeated, its voice more urgent somehow.

"What?" Kestrelpaw asked, eyeing the bird. "What's wrong?"

"Kestrelpaw!" the bird said urgently, much more loudly than before.

"KESTRELPAW!"

Kestrelpaw's eyes shot open to see her brother standing in front of her with a look of irritation on his usually calm, and, dare she say it?, expressionless features. He glared at her as if she had just caused something terrible to happen. She sincerely hoped that this was not the case. If it was, then she was in seriously bigger trouble than she had ever been in before.

"What?" Kestrelpaw asked, almost fearfully. She hoped that it would only be something minor. Maybe somebody had found out that she had purposefully tripped Harepaw up yesterday. Or maybe they had discovered that she had fed Harepaw poppy seeds, by hiding them in his food, so that he would be too tired to go on the border patrol with her. She was quite proud of that idea. He still hadn't woken up, and nobody could understand why he was so sleepy. They put it down to laziness.

"Mother wants to see you about yesterday," Sparrowpaw said expressionlessly, and Kestrelpaw groaned. "She says that there is a certain tripping incident that happened that she would like to talk to you about."

Kestrelpaw gulped, and nodded, partly relieved that it wasn't something else. Although she couldn't understand why Stonebrook would want to see her for such a _small_ thing. Honestly, it could easily have been an accident, couldn't it? Then again, it had just so happened that she had stuck her paw out in front of him when he had been heading for a patch of stinging nettles. She chuckled at the look on his face afterwards. All those stings.

"You _did_ do it, didn't you?" Sparrowpaw said, his sentence more a statement than a question. "I thought after the mouse bile incident you'd have better sense than to do something like that."

_Good thing he doesn't know about the poppy seeds_, Kestrelpaw thought to herself, imagining her brother's face if he heard about that. It wasn't as if it was going to remain a secret for long, though. Harepaw would make sure to tell everyone about it the moment he realised what she had done to him. But it was worth it. Oh yes. And _this_ time, she had made sure to only put poppy seeds in one piece of prey.

Kestrelpaw ignored what her brother had said, and queried. "Where is Stonebrook?"

"Eating," and with that Sparrowpaw trotted out of the apprentices' den, no doubt about to do some training with his mentor, Greenstar. Kestrelpaw couldn't help but think of Greenstar's name with slight bitterness. He obviously favoured Sparrowpaw over all the other apprentices. Weren't leaders meant to think of all the cats in the Clan in the same light? No favourites. If so, then Greenstar wasn't the usual leader.

Kestrelpaw padded slowly towards Stonebrook, who looked up expectantly when her daughter plunked herself down next to her. The grey she-cat gazed at her daughter in concern, which surprised Kestrelpaw. Why was Stonebrook concerned about _her_? Shouldn't she be concerned about a certain annoying tom that had been covered with nettle stings for quite a few hours?

"Kestrelpaw, I heard that Harepaw fell _accidentally_ into a patch of stinging nettles yesterday whilst on patrol with Willowfur and yourself. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?" Stonebrook asked her daughter, her blue eyes now regarding the younger she-cat with slight accusation.

"Um...," Kestrelpaw said, not willing to answer the question. Why did everybody get so worked up about something so tiny? Harepaw had deserved a couple of nettle stings, even a newborn kit could see that. Well, actually, considering that newborn kits couldn't see _anything_... it might have been better to say that even a _kit_ could have seen that.

"I thought you had talked to Greenstar about that," Stonebrook said, unusually serious. As far as she could remember, the only time that she had ever seen Stonebrook _this_ serious was when Thornheart had been wounded whilst fighting rogues, and his wound had become infected. He had almost died, and, if you looked closely, you could still see the scar of the wound that had almost cost him his life.

"Don't you start! I know that it was wrong, but didn't _you_ ever do something like that when you were my age?" Kestrelpaw asked her mother, rather irritated at the fact that _Stonebrook_ was now lecturing her.

Stonebrook's gaze softened. "I did, actually. I used to annoy Greenstar very much when we were apprentices. But I went one step too far. I ruined his warrior ceremony... and... well... he was furious at me. I had never seen him so mad. It was then that I realised that sometimes you just need to learn that you can't always play pranks on others. Actions have consequences, honey."

"You played a prank on _Greenstar_?" Kestrelpaw asked in amazement, trying to imagine Stonebrook sneaking poppy seeds into the leader's food, and ripping up his nest. Oddly enough, she _could_ actually imagine it. Which didn't say so much for Stonebrook.

"He wasn't a leader when I did that. Just an ordinary apprentice. Nobody dreamed he'd ever become leader. He wasn't considered good enough. But he proved them all wrong, so he did," Stonebrook's voice sounded almost proud. "After his warrior ceremony, his _proper_ one, he and I became very good friends. Maybe the same will happen to you and Harepaw."

Kestrelpaw's voice came out as a horrified squeak. "Never! He's an annoying, irritating, smug, stuck-up, unintelligent, piece of foxdung that I wish I didn't have to associate with!"

Stonebrook shrugged nonchalantly. "Okay then. Now, why don't you go make yourself useful? I heard that Birdheart wanted some help in the medicine cat's den."

The brown apprentice stomped over to the medicine cat den, furious at the very _suggestion_ that Harepaw _wasn't_ an annoying, irritating, unintelligent... wait a minute. Hadn't she already described him as that? She needed to come up with new words to describe him. Kestrelpaw's brain began to think through all possible negative words that she could use to apply to the tom, and was quite pleased when she found more then enough to last for at least a moon.

"Sparrowpaw, is that you? Can you take some feverfew over to Poppyfur, she's complaining that she's got a headache," Birdheart looked up, and Kestrelpaw could've sworn that the medicine cat's face fell at the sight of her. "Oh... it's you."

"I can help," Kestrelpaw volunteered quickly.

"Well... um...," Birdheart seemed hesitant, as if he didn't quite trust Kestrelpaw with carrying a bunch of herbs from there to the elders' den without causing some trouble. In truth, Kestrelpaw couldn't blame the tom for feeling that way. Still, it was a bit rude, wasn't it?

"Where's the feverfew?" Kestrelpaw asked, looking around the den for the herb.

"Over there," the medicine cat flicked his tail towards several neat piles of herbs. "Make sure you get the right one. Remember, it's for Poppyfur."

Kestrelpaw nodded vaguely, her mind busy wondering why she wasn't trusted as much as her brother was. Surely she was trustworthy enough to carry _herbs_ from one place to another? It was all Harepaw's fault. If he hadn't annoyed her, then none of this would have happened. She picked up the feverfew and trotted out of the medicine cat's den, heading straight for the elders' den. She would be good from now on. That was a promise. _This_ time she would keep it. Oh she would.

Spotting the red she-cat in the far corner of the den, Kestrelpaw padded towards her, making sure to make a lot of noise. Poppyfur's eyesight wasn't good, and she could get very grumpy if she didn't know that a cat was approaching her. Kestrelpaw knew this from her own experience, and, although she hated to admit it, she was extremely scared of the elderly she-cat. Poppyfur had that effect on most of the younger members of the Clan.

Dropping the herbs in front of Poppyfur, Kestrelpaw mewed. "Birdheart said to give you this feverfew for you headache."

Poppyfur looked suspiciously at Kestrelpaw, and then looked down at the herbs. Kestrelpaw gazed at her own paws, avoiding Poppyfur's eyes. The red she-cat was just so... _scary_. It was almost as if she expected Kestrelpaw to be from the Dark Forest. Which was absolute nonsense, but that was how Kestrelpaw was sure Poppyfur felt.

"This isn't another one of your pranks, now is it?" Poppyfur growled menacingly, and Kestrelpaw jumped back, shaking her head vigorously.

"No, no," the brown apprentice meowed, and then quickly exited the elders' den. Feeling more relaxed now that she was out of Poppyfur's sight, she glanced around for Harepaw. To her absolute delight, he was still snoring by his half finished prey. Maybe she shouldn't have put in ten poppy seeds...

No sooner had the thought formed itself, than Harepaw snuffled and opened his eyes sleepily. The tom's eyes landed on Kestrelpaw, and narrowed suspiciously. Stifling a yelp, Kestrelpaw forced herself to trot away calmly. It would only increase his suspicions if she started running for her life. Not that this was the first time she had put poppy seeds in his food. This was actually the third time. But it was just such a useful trick, and Birdheart seemed to have a never-ending supply of poppy seeds in his den. She was surprised that she was even allowed in the medicine cat's den after all the times she had stolen supplies from there.

For a brief moment, her surroundings disappeared, and were replaced by the surroundings of her dream. The sharp air replaced the usual air, and she inhaled deeply. Kestrelpaw's paws rested on a small sandy mound. The harsh cry of the bird she had heard in her dream was heard once again, and the small kestrel looked down at her from where it was hovering.

And then the vision disappeared, leaving Kestrelpaw wondering what had prompted it. The only thing in the vision that didn't disappear was the small kestrel, which was still hovering above her, eyeing her with the same curiosity that it had shown in her dream.

* * *

"You put poppy seeds in my food," Harepaw accused her, his voice furious.

"What_ever_ gave you that idea?" Kestrelpaw asked innocently, grooming herself. She suppressed a chuckle at the look on Harepaw's face. Ah, the tom was just such a _fun_ cat to annoy. He always reacted, no matter what she did. Annoying her brother got her nowhere, as he generally put on an expressionless face and ignored her.

"_Again_. Why do you _always_ put things in my food?" Harepaw growled in an extremely irritated voice, giving her a poisonous look. She was sure he was wishing that he could claw her pelt off.

"Because you always _eat_," Kestrelpaw said pleasantly, enjoying herself immensely. There was _one_ thing that was good about Harepaw: he was very amusing when annoyed. Especially when he yelled at her. Now _that_ was amusing.

"I do not!" Harepaw denied her claim strongly. "You're just telling lies, like the liar you are."

Kestrelpaw fought to keep control of her temper. Okay, now it wasn't so amusing. "I'm _not_ a liar. You're just a mousebrain."

Harepaw refused to respond to that, his head stuck up in the air, whilst he silently fumed at the brown apprentice. She was just so _annoying_. Why did he have to put up with her? Never mind. Soon he would be a warrior, and then she wouldn't be _allowed_ to play pranks on him. It didn't occur to him that that hadn't stopped her ripping apart numerous nests belonging to warriors who had wronged her in the past.

"Kestrelpaw! Come _here_!" Birdheart's voice called out, sounding remarkably displeased for the usually calm and collected medicine cat. Kestrelpaw wondered what had happened now, and what she would be accused of.

Harepaw chuckled unpleasantly, and said in a lofty voice. "Oh, look who's in _trouble_ again. Well done, you piece of _crowfood_."

The brown apprentice chose to ignore him, and walked quickly over to where Birdheart sat, looking extremely cross at something. Presumably something that Kestrelpaw had done. Maybe he had discovered that Kestrelpaw had stolen some of his poppy seeds.

"Do you realise what you gave Poppyfur?" Birdheart asked coldly.

"Feverfew, like you told me to," Kestrelpaw answered, puzzled as to what she had done wrong. Hadn't he told her to give Poppyfur feverfew? She was sure that he had.

"No, you did _not_," Birdheart hissed, his eyes like two pieces of scorching ground. "You're about as much use as a dead fox, you are! You can't even tell the difference between two _very_ different herbs!"

"Wha-what did I give her then?" Kestrelpaw stammered, fearing the worst. What if she had given Poppyfur some herb that was deadly poison to eat? She would be a murderer. Of an innocent elder. No matter that Poppyfur was an extremely scary elder, she was still innocent.

"_Yarrow_. Poppyfur vomited up her food because of that. Honestly, how can you not see the difference between yarrow and feverfew? There is a _lot_ of difference! Poppyfur is not feeling well, thanks to you. Fortunately, it's most likely from shock of vomiting than from anything serious," Birdheart eyed Kestrelpaw with suspicion. "I hope you didn't do that on purpose."

For once in her life, Kestrelpaw _hadn't_ done it on purpose. And, the one time she had _tried_ to do something helpful, it had gone wrong. Why? Surely she could do something right for once? What had Greenstar said to her the day she had rubbed mouse bile on his food?

_Maybe you could try to be a bit more like Sparrowpaw._

It was unbelievable how much those eleven words had hurt her. She knew that everyone in SkyClan, with the possible exception of her mother, wished that she could be more like her brother... but still. To _say_ it to her face. And coming from her leader, who was meant to be fair and accept cats for what they were! Even thinking about the words now stung her, like the stinging nettles had stung Harepaw.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Kestrelpaw said desperately, trying her hardest to sound convincing. To her disgust, her voice wobbled ever so slightly. Now she was turning into a weakling! Oh, life just didn't get much better than this.

"Strange as it may sound... I believe you. But that's no excuse for not paying attention to which herb you picked up. What if you had been out gathering herbs, and you had accidentally picked a deadly one? You _must_ learn to pay more attention to your surroundings, Kestrelpaw," Birdheart lectured, and Kestrelpaw's eyes closed. Lecture, lecture, lecture. That was all she ever got from her Clanmates. Even her _younger_ brother lectured her.

"... on prey. We're running short of prey, in case you haven't noticed. It hasn't rained in over a moon. Perhaps even more. Prey isn't _infinite_, Kestrelpaw," Birdheart sighed, and then gave up on trying to knock some sense into the brown apprentice, who was clearly not listening to a word he was saying. Birdheart had met several cats similar to Kestrelpaw in his life time, and they were extremely difficult to teach, in his experience. His old apprentice had been one of those cats. Never tiring of joking around, and one day he had gone one step too far. Birdheart hadn't been sure how it had happened, as he hadn't been there, but apparently his former apprentice and Runningfoot, who was then only an apprentice himself, had gone to the Two-leg place on a dare. Birdheart's apprentice had been killed by a Two-leg monster whilst running across a small thunderpath, also on a dare. Runningfoot had never been the same since. Birdheart sincerely hoped that Kestrelpaw wouldn't end up like the former medicine cat apprentice had.

"I'm sorry," Kestrelpaw murmured, and then padded off. She headed for the camp exit, not wanting to be among her Clanmates any more. It was very trying sometimes, to be with a whole load of cats who were always accusing her of something or another. To be sure, most of the time it was because she really _had_ done something... nevertheless, it was sometimes horrible to know that none of the cats in the Clan trusted her. Or, at least, they didn't act like they did. Which was hurtful enough. All she was every trying to do was make life more fun for everyone... and get back at some cats, and all _they_ ever did was scold her and punish her for making their life more interesting.

Kestrelpaw looked up at the clear blue sky. The sky always seemed to be clear and blue nowadays. The sun shone done on her, almost like it too was angry at her. She padded forlornly out of camp, unable to understand herself. Why did she so quickly swing from one mood to the other? Why did she allow other cats to have so much power over her mood? Two questions she couldn't answer at that moment, but was determined to one day find out why.

"Sad?" a quiet voice piped up after about five minutes of walking. Kestrelpaw's head jerked up, and she looked around, quickly spotting the odd little kestrel that seemed to constantly follow her.

"What do you _think_, bird-brain?" Kestrelpaw said insultingly, not feeling in the least bit like being polite.

"I think you need something to take your mind off it," the kestrel answered slowly, as if thinking through every word before speaking it. Kestrelpaw didn't even think about how strange it was to be talking to a bird.

"How'd you figure that out?" Kestrelpaw said unpleasantly, glaring at her paws.

"Something about your expression. Anyway, the 'something' to take your mind off it is actually... quite big. So it isn't really a 'something'. It's more like a 'big thing'... but you were going to go anyway," the kestrel muttered, more to itself than to Kestrelpaw. The she-cat's eyes brightened considerably with amusement at the kestrel's speech, or, rather, the way the kestrel had said the words.

"What is it?"

"Well... it's like a... a... _mission_. StarClan wanted to talk to you about it, but you just refused to listen to them. Don't blame you. They are a _boring_ lot. All that talk about being good and stuff," the kestrel explained kindly. "So StarClan decided to talk to _me_ about it instead, and then I was told to tell _you_ what they had told _me_. So here I am."

"What is it?"

"Oh... er... it's difficult to explain. Let's just say you wait at the edge of SkyClan's territory tomorrow night, when the moon is at its highest," the kestrel informed Kestrelpaw seriously. "Will you? Please?"

Kestrelpaw wondered whether this could get any crazier. She was talking to a bird, and was about to agree to wait at the edge of SkyClan's territory for something that the kestrel hadn't told her about. Kestrelpaw broke out into a purr at the thought of the very craziness of it. "Sure. Why not?"

**That was the oddest chapter I've ever written. Really and truly. I mean... a _bird_ talking to a _cat_? Don't they usually have fights? But this is a fantasy story, so... anything can happen. :)**

**I hope I didn't deter anybody by making the kestrel talk...**


	6. Moon High

**Thank you to AutumnGrove for reviewing!**

**Okay, so I just discovered a story called 'Through Another's Eyes' about a cat called Fawnpaw who is similar to Kestrelpaw in some aspects. The story is really good, so please check it out when you have the time. It's on my favourite list. But how weird is that? It's got my penname, and the main characters are similar. Hahaha... the look on my face was priceless when I was reading it. But, as I said before, check it out when you have the time.**

Moon-High

Kestrelpaw snuck out of the apprentices' den cautiously, looking around to make sure that no other cats were awake. If they were, she would have a _lot_ of explaining to do. And she would probably end up with another set of elder duties when she failed to explain why she was out at moonhigh, looking highly suspicious, and heading towards the camp exit. Of course, she wouldn't tell them the real reason. They would think she was mad, and she'd end up in the elders' den before her time because of it. Apparently, madness would get you in the elders' den if nothing else did.

Just as she was sure she was about to make it, a voice called out her name. Heart sinking, Kestrelpaw turned around slowly to see Squirrelpaw bounding up to her, eyes alight with curiosity. Why did it have to be Squirrelpaw? The tortoiseshell she-cat had taken to stalking her since yesterday. Like she herself would have stalked a mouse. And it was not only unnerving, but extremely irritating.

"Hey, Kestrelpaw! Where're you going?" Squirrelpaw chirped, coming to a halt next to the brown apprentice, who did her best to hide a very annoyed expression.

"None of _your_ concern," Kestrelpaw snapped, the words coming out harsher than she had intended them to. She was becoming more like Poppyfur by the day, she reckoned. Maybe they'd start calling her 'Poppyfur Number 2'. Oh, how she'd hate that.

"Whoa. Don't get all snappy on me. I didn't do anything wrong, did I? And... if you're going out of camp, like I _know_ you are... I'm going to come with you. To stop you from getting yourself into trouble," if cats could smile, Squirrelpaw would've had a huge grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Kestrelpaw remained silent, trying to think of a remark that would send Squirrelpaw scurrying away, like her namesake. Unfortunately, no smart retort came into mind, and so Kestrelpaw had to face the facts. Squirrelpaw was going to accompany her whether she liked it or not, and there really was nothing she could do about it. It didn't help much that the other apprentice was a good five moons older than here, give or take a couple days.

"Fine. Do what you like, but don't expect me to talk to you," Kestrelpaw growled bad-temperedly. Just when she had been so happy about escaping from camp life. Well... she _would_ miss Squirrelpaw, just a bit. The tortoiseshell she-cat was actually really kind when she took the time to be kind. And she would miss her mother... and, even though he was as dull as a dead mouse, she might miss her brother as well. Scratch that. She _would_ miss him. He was her brother, and, annoying and dull as he might be at times, nothing would ever change that.

"That's fine. I didn't want to talk to you, anyway. You usually talk too much," Squirrelpaw followed Kestrelpaw out of the camp, and trailed behind her the whole way to the place that Kestrelpaw had been asked to go. Several times, Kestrelpaw had tried to lose Squirrelpaw, by darting in here, or speeding up there. Squirrelpaw was a remarkably good tracker, though, and it didn't take genius to figure out where Kestrelpaw had disappeared to.

By the time they reached the edge of SkyClan's territory, the moon was shining brightly, high above them. It flooded the landscape with a soft silvery light, making the whole place look almost dreamlike. If she hadn't been in such a bad mood, Kestrelpaw would have been stunned by the beauty of it.

A light fluttering noise above them made Kestrelpaw look up, and she spotted the small kestrel in a tree branch above them. It made a noise that sounded eerily like a cackle, and Squirrelpaw shivered, although Kestrelpaw couldn't tell whether it was from fear or because of the unusually chilly night. She thought it was probably the former.

"Hello you two," the kestrel said in deep tones, and was clearly delighted when Squirrelpaw let out a high pitched shriek of fear.

"You... you can _talk_?" Squirrelpaw's voice came out as a squeak of fright, and she looked at the bird as if it was about to eat her. Kestrelpaw stifled a chuckle at the sight of the usually brave tortoiseshell she-cat looking so scared. It was only a bird, for StarClan's sake.

"No," Kestrelpaw could've sworn the bird rolled its eyes. "We only have to wait a little longer now. What brings you here, Squirrelpaw?"

Squirrelpaw looked stumped. She was hiding something from Kestrelpaw, of that the brown apprentice was sure of. Kestrelpaw gazed at the other she-cat suspiciously. What could Squirrelpaw be hiding that was so important that she couldn't tell _Kestrelpaw_? Well... actually, there were quite a lot of things that cats didn't want to tell her nowadays. For instance, Greenstar's highly suspicious comments about how good Sparrowpaw was. Now _that_ irritated her no end. Too many things in life were irritating now. Why couldn't it be more simple... why couldn't everybody tell the truth for _once_?

"Um... well... I was asked to come here," Squirrelpaw mumbled almost incoherently, causing Kestrelpaw eyes to widen in surprise. "By... by... now don't look at me as if I'm crazy... but by a squirrel."

Kestrelpaw snorted in disbelief. A _squirrel_? Honestly. At least Kestrelpaw talked to a _kestrel_. A squirrel was something to eat. Not to talk to. Squirrelpaw glared at Kestrelpaw, and the brown apprentice hurriedly averted her eyes, mainly to hide the disbelief still lingering in them.

"Oh... how _interesting_," the kestrel murmured, clearly not finding it interesting at all. The kestrel probably had known that all along. "Doesn't happen to be that squirrel over there, does it?"

Both the apprentices looked in the direction that the kestrel's wing was pointing at. A shiny black squirrel looked straight back at them, not in the least afraid. Kestrelpaw heard Squirrelpaw inhale sharply at the sight of the squirrel.

"Ye-es... yes," Squirrelpaw answered slowly, not believing her eyes.

"Good. Now... we're going to wait for a little bit longer, and then I'll tell you what I want you to do," the kestrel nodded firmly, and then settled down patiently to wait for whatever it was that it was waiting for.

In the mean time, Kestrelpaw turned to Squirrelpaw. "You're going as well?"

Squirrelpaw looked slightly sheepish, as if she wished that she had told Kestrelpaw sooner. "Well... yeah. Don't blame me. I didn't ask to."

Kestrelpaw harrumphed and fell silent. This was her first adventure. Her first _real_ adventure, and Squirrelpaw would be tagging along. Wonderful. Just _wonderful_. Forcing herself to be rid of all the gloomy thoughts, she instead focused on the bright side. At least she would have a companion on whatever journey or adventure she was going on. And it would be somebody that she had known all her life. Sure, that would be dreadfully bothersome at times, but, in the end, Kestrelpaw was sure she'd be glad to have Squirrelpaw's company. It could be worse. She could have had _Harepaw_ as a companion. This thought cheered her immensely, and she was soon her usual cheerful self. She imagined the look on Harepaw's face when he realised that they had gone without him, and snickered.

As if in answer to her thoughts, a rustle in the bushes announced more cats. Kestrelpaw's heart thumped loudly in fear. What if Willowfur discovered she was out here? Would she have her apprentice ceremony put off until she could behave responsibly... until she was _twenty four_ moons instead of twelve? Not that she was twelve moons. Only seven and a half. But it was never too early to decide to post-pone an apprentice ceremony. Another horrifying thought occurred to her at that moment. What if the cat was _Greenstar_? She'd be in even more trouble then. He'd tried so hard to make her act responsibly, to act _maturely_. And now she was acting rather... well... she supposed you could call it immaturely.

"Listen, dull-head, _I_ was first out of camp. Therefore _you_ lose. I get to stay here and _you_ can go back and tell your precious mentor what happened to me," a horribly familiar voice said, and Kestrelpaw's heart sank when she recognised the voice, which was almost instantly. She noticed Squirrelpaw's eyes narrowing as the tortoiseshell she-cat recognised the voice as well.

"I was asked to come, too, so there's really nothing you can do," a calm voice answered Harepaw's. Kestrelpaw identified the voice at once. How could she not know it? She had been brought up with the owner of the voice. Sparrowpaw.

"I can see why that piece of crowfood that you call _sister_ finds you so dull. You are really boring, you know. You can't even think of a smart answer to that," Harepaw said scornfully, looking down his nose at the younger tom.

"How _dare_ you say that to my _brother_!" Kestrelpaw hissed, and Harepaw's head shot up in surprise and disbelief at her voice. Kestrelpaw was silently fuming. How dare he insult her family? Only _she_ could do that! "You're the piece of crowfood here, and _you_ will regret saying that. I'll make you regret it!"

She was just about to perform another front paw blow on the tom when the kestrel's voice interrupted her. "Now, now. No fighting, children. Remember, we're all in this together. Harepaw and Sparrowpaw have just as much right to remain here as any of us do. They were _asked_ to come here."

Kestrelpaw's head turned to where the kestrel's wing was pointing. Oh no. Dear StarClan no. A slender hare and a sparrow sat side by side next to the squirrel. Her annoyance and anger quickly faded, and was replaced by apprehension. How would she ever survive this with Harepaw by her side? She looked up at the kestrel desperately, but the bird ignored her glance.

"We are gathered here today to start a journey to save SkyClan from a terrible disaster," the kestrel said solemnly, and Kestrelpaw's face paled under her fur. A rather unpleasant look replaced the apprehensive one as she realised that she had just been told she would have to _save_ SkyClan from disaster. She would never be able to do that!

"What if we don't succeed?" Squirrelpaw piped up, much happier with the task that Kestrelpaw was. Of course. Squirrelpaw didn't mind any of the cats that she would make the journey with. If anything, she was probably quite pleased with the selection of companions.

"You either succeed, or die trying," a collective gasp came from all four cats at this announcement. Kestrelpaw was torn between delight at such a challenge, and fear for herself and her brother. Kestrelpaw had never thought the idea of a challenge that either ended in success or die trying would excite her, but it did. Her heart raced at the very thought of it. _What's wrong with me_?

"I'm in!" Kestrelpaw's voice rose above the moans and groans of the rest of the apprentices. All three cats looked at her with such shock that it was rather funny.

"You're crazy," Sparrowpaw said sadly, and then he purred. "But I'm not going to let you go on such a reckless mission by yourself. Count me in."

Squirrelpaw fidgeted, her eyes on her paws. She really didn't want to risk her life. Who would? Then again... she would probably regret it for the rest of her life if she said 'no'. Looking up, she said uncertainly. "Okay... I'm in as well."

All eyes turned to Harepaw, who, for once in his life, didn't look too sure of himself. Taking a deep breath, he muttered. "Well, I'm not going to be outdone by _her_ -" he shot a nasty glance at Kestrelpaw - "so I'm coming as well."

"Wonderful," the kestrel said in a pleased tone. It fluttered down to the ground, landing in the middle of the four apprentices. "Now... we're going to head for a place I like to call the Wide-Waters. It's going to be an _extremely_ long journey, so there's no going back once we've started. This is your last chance to turn back. Anybody? No? Well... then let's go. I'm leading, and _you_, hare, are staying at the back."

The hare snorted, much like Harepaw would've done, and shook its head. "I am _so_ not doing that."

The kestrel shrugged, and then fluttered ahead, and the rest of the gathered creatures followed her quietly. Some were quiet out of fear, some were quiet out of excitement. Mostly, they were quiet because they were too occupied with their own thoughts to bother talking to anyone else.

**I wrote that in a bit of a hurry =wince= so it's not as good as some of the previous ones. Nevertheless, I enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it.**

**Oh, and if you spot any continuity errors or such... please feel free to tell me.**


	7. The Only One

**Thank you to World of Make Believe, Ashoken Farewell & Indigo Jewel for reviewing!**

**I've suddenly realised that the story summary isn't as appropriate for the story as it originally was. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep it like that until I get near to finishing this story. Why? The wheels in my head start continuously turning once I start a story, so I often end up with a completely different plot to what I started out with. Haha... you should've seen my starting plot for _Thunder From Afar_. It was really different from what the story ended up like. **

**I know it has taken me ages to update, but I have just finished writing chapter 13! I didn't have internet connection for a little while, so apologies. **

**On the bright side, I'm going to upload two or three chapters today!**

The Only One

Whitepaw opened his eyes sleepily the next morning, and immediately noticed one thing: he was the only one in the apprentices' den. Which was extremely unusual, as he was normally the first to rise out of all the apprentices. He felt a slight prickle of anxiety as he sniffed the nest next to him, Harepaw's nest. The smell was quite a few hours old. Harepaw must have woken up in the middle of the night and not gone back to sleep. Not gone back to sleep here, at any rate.

He hurried outside the den, and was met with a small gathering of cats murmuring anxiously about something or other. Whitepaw's heart sank as he neared them, realising what they were so worried about. He heard a distinctive wail from Stonebrook, and padded faster towards the group of cats.

"... could they have gone to? Sparrowpaw wouldn't do this without a good reason! My kits are gone!" Stonebrook wailed loudly, almost hysterical with fear. Daisyheart, the mother of the five remaining kits in the nursery, tried her best to comfort the grey she-cat, without much success.

"I'm sure they're not far, Stonebrook. They're only apprentices, and I'm sure each and every one of them has enough sense to not wander too far from SkyClan's territory," Daisyheart said soothingly, although her eyes betrayed her own anxiety.

"Sense! Kestrelpaw doesn't _have_ sense! She doesn't know the meaning of the word! What if she's done something reckless?" Stonebrook's face was a picture of distress. Whitepaw could only imagine how the she-cat was feeling. He didn't know what it was like to wake up one morning and find your kits gone, but he imagined it was terrifying.

"She's not as bad as that," Blacktail, Squirrelpaw's mentor, said without much conviction. His voice was unusually filled with emotion, and Whitepaw looked at his father in sympathy. Blacktail didn't deserve to have one of his sons disappear like this. None of the cats did. Whitepaw wished that he knew where his brother was so that he could drag him back and give him a good yelling for worrying their parents so much. Speaking of which...

"How could Harepaw do this to me? How could he?" Willowfur howled, grief-stricken. Whitepaw rubbed his head against his mother's shoulder, and sighed. He was angry at his brother. Furious. Harepaw may have been an amazingly ignorant cat, extremely unaware of other cats' feelings, but surely he must have considered how upset Willowfur would be when he disappeared without a word of goodbye?

"What's wrong? What happened here?" Greenstar and Spottedfur padded over the ever enlargening group of SkyClan cats. One look at the devastated faces of Willowfur and Stonebrook confirmed his fears that something terrible had happened.

"Sparrowpaw and Kestrelpaw left! They didn't even say goodbye!" Stonebrook said, her voice pained. Thornheart, in an uncharacteristic show of concern for his mate, rubbed his cheek against the she-cat's.

"H-H-Harepaw left as well...," Willowfur gulped, trying to get control of herself. She wasn't one who liked to show how deep her emotions really ran, as she considered it weakness. But this had been the last straw for the she-cat.

Spottedfur's face took on a terrified look, and she whispered. "Did any other cats go missing?"

"I'm sorry, Spottedfur. Squirrelpaw... disappeared, too," Daisyheart murmured to the deputy, and Whitepaw shot the distressed she-cat a sympathetic glance. That was all he could really do. Most of his mind was concentrating on trying to stop his mother from going wild with worry and grief.

The deputy's face froze when she heard her daughter's name spoken. Her usually calm exterior broke, and her face crumpled like she had been hit hard by one of those Two-leg monsters. Whitepaw shot a panicked glance at Greenstar, uncertain about how they would manage to comfort _three_ mothers. One was enough. But three?

"Silence!" Greenstar said strongly, although he too looked uneasy. Whitepaw didn't blame him. Four apprentices had gone missing overnight. If Whitepaw had been leader, he would have been scared witless. "Who was the last to see them? When was the last time any of you saw them?"

There was a long silence. None of the cats said anything, and the silence began to get rather panicky after the first few silent minutes. Eventually, Whitepaw heard Redstripe speak up, and all cats' eyes snapped towards the direction of the black tom in hope.

"I... I saw... or rather heard Harepaw arguing with someone near moon-high last night. I... I didn't think anything of it, as I assumed he was arguing with Kestrelpaw. You know those two... they don't stop arguing from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep," Redstripe began, glancing at the mothers of the two cats concerned, trying to guess whether they would take offence at his speaking about their kits' flaws. "The noise faded away, and I just assumed that the argument was over. I'm sorry. If I had known... then I would have investigated."

"You should have, crowfood!" Willowfur hissed at the black tom, causing the latter to flinch at the accusation in the she-cat's tone. "My son has disappeared! You could have _stopped_ him from leaving me!"

"Mother, quiet," Whitepaw murmured, and Willowfur looked at her other son in surprise, falling silent when she realised that he was right. Shouting wasn't going to get her anywhere.

"Thank you, Redstripe... anyone else?" Greenstar asked quietly, his voice nevertheless easy to hear over the silence of SkyClan's camp.

Encouraged by Redstripe's outspokenness, Runningfoot piped up. "I saw Squirrelpaw going outside the apprentices' den. She was following Kestrelpaw. I was going to follow them... but I was required elsewhere. I thought Squirrelpaw was sensible enough not to wander outside camp in the middle of the night. Clearly I was mistaken."

Spottedfur glared at the tom, furious that he had just insulted her only daughter. She opened her mouth to say something cutting, but Greenstar stopped her with a stern look. Whitepaw looked at the deputy in surprise. He had never seen her so angry. Spottedfur usually gave off a calm, soothing aura that immediately made other cats feel at ease. He, being her apprentice, knew that better than almost any of the other cats in the Clan.

"Spottedfur, you can lead a search for the missing cats. Take two others with you, and see if you can pick up any scent of the apprentices. Thornheart, you can lead another search. Take two cats with you as well, and search any areas that Spottedfur isn't searching. If you haven't discovered anything by sun-high, come back to the camp and we will discuss this further," Greenstar said authoritatively, and Whitepaw watched silently as Spottedfur picked Redstripe and Willowfur to go with her on the search. Thornheart picked Runningfoot and Dustclaw, and followed Spottedfur's patrol out of the camp.

"Why did they leave?" Blacktail asked the question that had been on everybody's mind since they had first discovered that the four apprentices had gone missing.

"It must have been for something important. Sparrowpaw would _never_ have left without explanation if it wasn't urgent," Daisyheart said thoughtfully, and the rest of the cats nodded in agreement. That was one thing that they could all agree on, at least. Sparrowpaw's sense. Then again, it had never been a subject that had received much attention because of the unarguable-ness of it.

"How can we be sure they all left together? What if it was by coincidence that they all departed the same night?" Birdheart asked, a brooding expression on his face. This idea was met with litte enthusiasm. It would only be worse if the four apprentices weren't together. If they were together, then at least they could all look after one another... although Whitepaw seriously doubted that Harepaw would do any looking after anyone.

"I hope not. I'd rather my kits be together than not," Stonebrook said in a subdued voice. She had come to terms with the idea of her kits leaving her much more quickly than either Spottedfur or Willowfur had. Maybe it was because Stonebrook was closer to her kits than the other two, and therefore understood what motivated them. Or maybe it was the opposite. Maybe Stonebrook _wasn't_ as close to her kits as the other two were. Whitepaw couldn't quite understand it, and decided to let it rest for the moment.

The discussion went on, the sun beaming down on them all angrily, like it too was anxious and angry at the four apprentices for disappearing without saying a word. There wasn't a breath of wind to be found, and Whitepaw found his pelt prickling with discomfort. He hated green-leaf. It was far too warm for his liking.

* * *

In the mean time...

"I'm bored. Let's play a game. Any ideas?" Kestrelpaw said brightly, unaware of the havoc she and her fellow apprentices had caused back in SkyClan.

"Yeah. How about 'shut up for StarClan's sake'?" Harepaw said bitterly, regretting going on this journey already. He especially wasn't enjoying a certain brown apprentice's company.

"I don't know of that game. How do you play it?" Kestrelpaw chirped cheerily, much to Harepaw's annoyance, seemingly oblivious to his bitterness. Or, rather, she was just having such a good time annoying him that she chose to ignore it.

"_Kestrelpaw_," Sparrowpaw said warningly, causing his sister to send him a disgruntled look that clearly said 'spoilsport'.

"You're about as much fun as a dead sparrow," Kestrelpaw said petulantly, glaring at her brother.

"He's only trying to stop you two from fighting," Squirrelpaw pointed out sensibly, and received a dark look from both Harepaw and Kestrelpaw. An idea occurred to the tortoiseshell she-cat, and she snickered. "You two are dreadfully alike, you know."

The horrified looks that Harepaw and Kestrelpaw sent her made her roar with laughter. Sparrowpaw chuckled softly, too. As did the squirrel and the sparrow. The hare and the kestrel pointedly ignored the laughing she-cat and tom.

"Oh my! Did you see the _looks_ on your faces! Anyone would've thought that Firestar himself had appeared in front of you and announced that he was going to reincarnate himself as one of your kits!" Squirrelpaw howled with laughter. Interestingly enough, so did the squirrel, which caused Kestrelpaw to forget her horror. A thought occurred to the brown apprentice as she watched the squirrel and her friend laughing. Then, purring she turned to the object of her annoyance.

"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we play... 'who can annoy Harepaw the most'? He looks like he needs it," Kestrelpaw said cheerfully, and Harepaw rewarded her with a very aggravated look. As did the hare, although the hare gave off a more dignified air whilst doing so. Delighted with the experiment, she squealed joyously. To her utmost surprise, the kestrel squeaked in a similar kind of excitement. Later on, she didn't understand why she had felt so surprised, as she had already realised that each animal was linked to one of the four emotionally.

The others looked from her to the kestrel and back again, realisation dawning on the three apprentices as well. Squirrelpaw's laughing fit over, the she-cat now look thoughtful. "How interesting. But... if they feel the same emotions as us... why don't they talk at exactly the same time as us?"

"Too bothersome," the squirrel answered the tortoiseshell she-cat's question. "I only laughed because your emotion was very strong. I wouldn't usually have done it. We only do the same things as you if your emotion is _very_ strong. For example, Kestrelpaw was very happy to have annoyed the poor tom over there. So my friend the kestrel felt the same happiness."

"Does that mean... that the hare and the kestrel don't like each other?" Sparrowpaw enquired interestedly, looking at the two animals mentioned with curiosity.

"Yes, quite so," the sparrow replied, fluttering over to Sparrowpaw and perching on the cat's back. "Oh... and another thing you might want to know... we only usually talk to the one we are linked to. Like I will normally only talk to _you_, and nobody else. Unless it is necessary. Like the kestrel explained the journey because we didn't know how to explain it very well. Not that she did an excellent job..."

"I heard that!" the kestrel called, still flying ahead of them. Harepaw sniggered, and Kestrelpaw, predictably, glared at him. _Really, those two are _so_ predictable sometimes_, Squirrelpaw thought with exasperation.

"When are we going to stop?" Harepaw asked after a long pause, during which he exchanged hate-filled glances with the brown apprentice. Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw shared an irritated look. They both found the other two cats rather trying at times, because they just refused to get on well. It was very hard traveling with two cats who didn't get on well with each other.

"Shut up," Kestrelpaw said automatically.

"We're stopping just over there," the hare pointed its nose in the direction of a towering green tree whose trunk must have been as wide as five cats lying sidewise, at the very least. The hare hopped next to Harepaw in an amiable manner. "Don't worry, it'll only be another few minutes."

"Thank StarClan for that," all four SkyClan apprentices said at the same time. For once, Kestrelpaw and Harepaw didn't seem to mind that they had just said the same thing at the same time. They were too happy to know that they were going to stop soon to notice it.

The first thing Kestrelpaw noticed when she arrived at the tree was that there was a burrow right under it, perfect for a shelter. Big enough for everyone, too. She poked her head into the burrow cautiously, sniffing it to make sure that no unpleasant creature still inhabited it. Much to her relief, the scent was stale. The last occupants had been here well over eight moons ago. Maybe even more than that. She was surprised that she could even smell anything, and then congratulated herself on her good sense of smell.

"Is it safe to stay in there?" Sparrowpaw asked the sparrow, far more cautious than his sister had been. When the sparrow nodded, Sparrowpaw wasted no time in crawling into the burrow and flopping down on the ground, more exhausted than he had first thought he was. The rest of the apprentices followed, and they quickly fell asleep. No matter that they hadn't yet caught any prey. That could wait until they had woken up. For now, everyone was just content to sleep, sleep, sleep.

**=yawn= Well... that chapter was fun to write. The only trouble was I had to keep looking up different words for 'grief' in my thesaurus, as it got tiresome to use the same word. I also frequently used the thesaurus for words that meant the same as 'annoying'. I feel that I've used that word far too much in this story.**

**And, yes, I'll admit it. The 'connected' animals are rather like Philip Pullman's _His Dark Materials_ daemon idea. I didn't intend it to be that way, but it just turned out like that. There, I've admitted it! So nobody can accuse me of plagiarism because I fully acknowledge that I was inspired by _His Dark Materials_. **


	8. Feelings

**Chapter _eight_! OMSC! ( Oh My StarClan ). I'm already on chapter _eight_? It's only the 17th of September ( date of writing this, although it'll probably be published quite a few days after that ), and I started the story on the 14th of September. This is much better than _Thunder From Afar_ with the average speed of updates. Maybe it's because I find this story more interesting?**

**WARNING: This chapter is much more emotional than previous ones. So... em... just a little note.**

Feelings

About one week into the journey, Harepaw and Kestrelpaw started getting tired of arguing with each other. This could be partly attributed to the fact that they were literally too _tired_ to argue. Or maybe it was because their brains had run out of insults. Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw found this sudden change rather refreshing, and they took it upon themselves to try and keep it this way...

"I'm sick and tired of your company," Kestrelpaw muttered one sunny day to Harepaw, having nothing better to say to the tom.

"I'm sick and tired of _you_," Harepaw retorted half-heartedly, unable to think of any better retort. He would have no doubt found it very irritating if he had seen the amused and delighted looks on Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw's faces at the un-sharpness of his insult. Fortunately, he didn't see it, and what you don't know can't hurt you.

"It's a lovely day, isn't it?" Sparrowpaw said chirpily, which was most unlike him. Kestrelpaw looked at her brother in surprise, not realising that he had said that to make her stop throwing insults, no matter how appallingly bad they were, at Harepaw. She also didn't realise that there was another motive to him saying that.

"Oh, yes. Just beautiful. The sun is quite shining, is it not?" Squirrelpaw replied sunnily, causing Harepaw to throw both her and Sparrowpaw a confused look. He, too, was puzzled as to why they had suddenly changed the subject to the _weather_, of all things. What was so unusual about it being sunny in green-leaf?

"Yes, quite. I wonder how the weather will be tomorrow? I do hope it stays like this. It is quite refreshing to have the sun shining down upon us as we make our long journey," Sparrowpaw said hopefully, and Kestrelpaw rolled her eyes. Her brother really was as dull as she had thought he was. What cat in their right senses would talk about the _weather_ at a time like this?

"You do realise that you just used the word 'quite' _twice_?" Kestrelpaw pointed out. "You sound like a bunch of elders."

"I hate to agree with _her_, but she's right. You do sound like a bunch of elders," Harepaw admitted grudgingly, feeling rather put out. He hated that Kestrelpaw, of all cats, had said exactly what he was about to say.

"Is that so, darling?" Squirrelpaw's words managed to come out in a croaky tone, like one Poppyfur would have used. Kestrelpaw wondered what her brother and friend were trying to accomplish by sounding like elders. Nothing good, she suspected.

"Youngsters today, they just don't know how to voice things in a polite way," Sparrowpaw shook his head sadly, and Squirrelpaw nodded as if in complete agreement.

"That's just... _creepy_," Kestrelpaw moved away from the two apprentices, an appalled look on her face. She couldn't quite work out what they were trying to do. And when Kestrelpaw couldn't work out something, she preferred to stay away from it. In this case, it meant getting as far away from her brother and friend as possible.

"That is... _weird_," Harepaw said, a look of disgust on his usually smug features. He too moved away from Sparrowpaw and Squirrelpaw, unaware that that was exactly what they wanted him to do. Much as he hated to admit it, he preferred the supremely annoying Kestrelpaw's company to those two at that moment.

Once Harepaw and Kestrelpaw were out of earshot, Squirrelpaw let out a delighted squeal. "Oh my StarClan! It worked!"

Sparrowpaw snickered in a very uncharacteristic way. "I told you it would. Now... if we can just keep this up..."

"... they'll be friends in no time," Squirrelpaw's eyes shone with delight at the very notion. She was thrilled with the idea of making Harepaw and Kestrelpaw become friends. It would be such fun. Step One had been much easier than she had expected. Step One being forcing the two to go together, or, rather, giving them the option of being together or being with the 'creepy' ones.

"I wonder what they're talking about?" Sparrowpaw looked curiously over to where the other two apprentices were, quite predictably, arguing about something. His ears flicked forward in the hope that he could hear something of their conversation, but, to his disappointment, all he heard was a meaningless babble of what he supposed were words.

"Yeah... me too," Squirrelpaw gazed at the two apprentices with the same interest that Sparrowpaw had. She chuckled softly to herself when Kestrelpaw shoved Harepaw to the side, furious with him for saying something or other. Ah... things were going well.

"Shall we work on Step Two?" Sparrowpaw suggested after a pause. His suggestion was met with much enthusiasm by Squirrelpaw, and the two began talking in low voices, ideas being formed and then thrown away.

Whilst Sparrowpaw and Squirrelpaw were busy trying to work on Step Two, Kestrelpaw was having a very hard time with trying to tell Harepaw to get lost.

"Do you understand what _go away_ means, crowfood?" Kestrelpaw hissed in frustration as the tom padded calmly beside her.

"Do you understand what _I was here first_ means, mousebrain?" Harepaw faked a yawn, as if the conversation was starting to bore him intensely.

"You weren't here first! _I_ was here first! A kit could see that!" Kestrelpaw retorted sharply, and was disappointed when the tom didn't even flinch. He was too used to her insults and accusations to take much notice of them.

"Well... how about... _you_ go back to the creepies? I'm older than you, and therefore I can order you around. I wonder how your family ever puts up with you. I wouldn't be surprised if they were glad that you're gone. _I_ would be, " Harepaw flicked his tail dismissively, and the hare glared at Kestrelpaw.

Kestrelpaw felt hurt and anger welling up inside her. How dare _he_ tell her what to do! He was an apprentice, like she was. Nobody would order _her_ around, especially not a conceited piece of crowfood like him! If anybody was going to go, it ought to be him. She had been there first, and therefore had much more right to stay here than he did. As for the comments about her family... that was what hurt her the most. He didn't know anything.

"I _hate_ you!" Kestrelpaw yelled, causing Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw to look at her in interest. Oblivious to the two apprentices who were looking at her with excitement and delight, she continued to yell at Harepaw. "You think _you_ are so important! You think that everybody can do what _you _want! Don't you realise that sometimes, just sometimes, you're _wrong_? I wish that you had never been born! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! You look down on me and think that I'm nothing! Well, I'll tell you something: We're all _equal_! Why do you think that _you_ are better than me? You haven't got any important rank. You're an _apprentice_, for StarClan's sake. There's this little thing called _humility_. I don't suppose you've ever heard of it. It means _modest_. It means thinking that you _aren't_ the best. That others can be, and are, better than you. Understand _that_? Oh, and, by the way, cats have _feelings_! You had no right to say _any_ of that stuff about my family!"

Harepaw looked stunned. For a cat who had just lost her temper, she was certainly trying hard to get through to him what she thought of him. Sure, it was jumbled up and some sentences didn't quite make sense to him, but he understood what she was saying well enough. It was the first time that any cat had ever told him exactly what he or she thought of him. And, he realised with something akin to horror, that she was right in many of the things that she said.

"Oh, oh, oh! I think this is just going too well. After this they will finally have an understanding," Squirrelpaw said in astonishment to Sparrowpaw. The tortoiseshell she-cat looked torn between amusement and surprise. "Look at his _face_!"

Sparrowpaw studied Harepaw's expressions with amazement. "He looks... _upset_. Doesn't he? Maybe we did the wrong thing..."

"This is just what he needs! And she's the _perfect_ cat to tell him what she thinks of him! Oh, this just couldn't get any better! If only the rest of SkyClan could see this. It would make a great story, don't you think?" Squirrelpaw squeaked happily, and Sparrowpaw resisted a chuckle at the she-cat's joyful tone of voice. Squirrelpaw loved a good scene, and this one immediately topped her favourite scenes. It was just _wonderful_. She couldn't find the words to describe how pleased she was with it. It was almost as if it had been rehearsed.

"I don't know how many kits would like hearing about this particular story," Sparrowpaw replied, quite pleased himself. His sister was a pain sometimes, but she was very fun when she lost her temper. Of course, it wasn't _quite_ so fun when her anger was aimed at him... which it had been once or twice. But when it was aimed at another cat, _then_ Sparrowpaw enjoyed it. The thing about Kestrelpaw was that when she lost her temper she was very outspoken. She didn't care what she said, so long as she believed it was true. This was a trait that Sparrowpaw sometimes wished that he himself had, but he never seemed to be able to get truly angry. He just wasn't that sort of cat.

Kestrelpaw stormed ahead of the group, her anger giving her new energy. She didn't know how much longer she'd be able to put up with that horrible tom. He was so conceited. He didn't seem to understand that other cats had _feelings_, and that bothered her more than his conceitedness. Well... actually, he _knew_ that other cats had feelings. He just like to use these feelings to annoy and upset them. That was _not_ going to work for her. She hoped that her speech had made him think twice about daring to say things like he had just said. Harepaw had no right to say how her family would feel upon her departure. He didn't know anything.

In truth, what he had said about her family had touched upon a sore spot. Kestrelpaw herself had doubted that her family liked her that much. She knew it was a crazy thought, but she couldn't help feeling that they liked her brother better than they liked her. She felt as if she was unwanted. Deep down, she knew that Stonebrook loved her... but sometimes it was hard to believe. It was even harder to believe that _Thornheart_ loved her. He was such a distant father. He rarely paid much attention to either of his kits. Come to think of it, he didn't pay that much attention to his mate. Kestrelpaw felt that she wasn't a part of her family. The odd one out. Every time she thought this, she scolded herself for even thinking such a thought... but it nagged at her, refusing to go away.

"Kestrelpaw! Kestrelpaw! Wait!" Squirrelpaw hurried after her friend, suddenly concerned. Sparrowpaw was busy trying to talk to Harepaw, although Squirrelpaw doubted he would have much success.

"Go _away_!" Kestrelpaw muttered, not wanting to see anybody at that moment.

"What's wrong?" Squirrelpaw asked softly, worried that Step One had just backfired. Correction: She was almost _certain_ that it had backfired. Kestrelpaw wasn't meant to get this upset. Squirrelpaw wasn't sure what Harepaw had said to her friend, but it must have been something that had been really hurtful. Otherwise Kestrelpaw wouldn't be acting like this.

"What do you think?" Kestrelpaw said roughly, and turned her head away from the tortoiseshell she-cat. She hated that her feelings were so obvious. She had done so well with controlling them up until now. And that mousebrain had to ruin it. Harepaw ruined everything.

"What did he say?" Squirrelpaw whispered, briefly glancing over her shoulder to see how Sparrowpaw was doing. From what she gathered, not very well. At least Squirrelpaw got the easier one to calm down.

"Nothing," Kestrelpaw mumbled.

"Why does everyone _always_ say that when it's obvious that something happened! Kestrelpaw, I _know_ that he said something to upset you," Squirrelpaw said in exasperation, letting out a long breath as she waited for the brown apprentice to tell her what Harepaw had said. She had to wait a long time, but eventually Kestrelpaw murmured something almost unintelligible.

"What did you just say?" Squirrelpaw asked gently.

"He-he said that my-my family would be g-g-glad to be rid of me," Kestrelpaw gulped, furious at herself for allowing his words to affect her so much. She shouldn't allow a nobody like him to make her so upset. But words were words, and they _had_ hurt.

"That's not true! You know it isn't! He was just trying to hurt your feelings," Squirrelpaw said indignantly. She was surprised that something like that would hurt Kestrelpaw so much, though. It wasn't the first time that Harepaw had said something like that to Kestrelpaw, and it had never affected her before. Or, at least, it hadn't _seemed _to affect her before.

"Well, he succeeded," Kestrelpaw's voice sounded as if she was being strangled. She inhaled deeply, and then exhaled, in the hope that she could regain control of herself. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe in. Breathe out. When she felt she had calmed down enough, she looked up at Squirrelpaw and mumbled. "Thanks..."

"I didn't do anything. You shouldn't let that piece of dirt upset you like that," Squirrelpaw said, doing her best to sound chirpy. She succeeded quite well, too.

"I shouldn't, you're right. Where's Sparrowpaw?" Kestrelpaw made an effort to sound cheerful again. She _wouldn't_ let his words affect her any more. Oh, she wouldn't! He wanted her to get upset, and she had done just that. She wouldn't allow herself to get upset at his words again. Never again.

"Oh... he's... um... talking to Harepaw," Squirrelpaw said uncertainly, waiting for an outburst of some sort from Kestrelpaw. To her surprise, none came.

"Oh. The weather is quite lovely, isn't it?" Kestrelpaw asked, and Squirrelpaw burst out laughing. Kestrelpaw looked at Squirrelpaw for a moment in surprise, and then she began laughing as well. Harepaw's words had been forgotten, and, as far as she was concerned, hadn't ever been said.

The same couldn't be said for Kestrelpaw's words, though.

**That was a much harder chapter to write than my previous ones. I didn't intend it to be so angry and upset, but it just... turned out that way. I was feeling angry and annoyed myself, and so Kestrelpaw kind of began to feel that way, too. Plus, I thought it would be good if I could vent my anger on Harepaw, poor fellow. As for Kestrelpaw's feelings of doubt about whether her family like her... don't most of us sometimes feel that? When we're upset and feeling sorry for ourself?**

**Well... I hope that wasn't too strong or anything. :). I loved writing the chapter, even though it was hard. I adore describing emotions, and this chapter was perfect for describing emotions.**

**If you spot any mistakes, please feel free to tell me.**

**Also, this was the second longest chapter in this story. The longest being chapter 7.**

**I also hope that I didn't make Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw sound too selfish or anything. But I wanted to show Sparrowpaw in a slightly different light. **

**P.S. There was also a _reason_ for this chapter. Feel free to guess, but you won't find out for a little while. I hope. It would be nice if I could keep you guessing, but I don't know if my chapters are able to do that. Never mind. We'll have to wait and see.**


	9. You're Apologising'

**Chapter 9! You're probably thinking 'when are things going to _happen_?'. Well... the answer is I'm going to take my time. No point in hurrying things. Plus, the characters need to develop more. I'll take it as a compliment if you say 'rubbish', but it's true. Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw have only just started to show what they're really like. So... yeah. **

'You're Apologising?'

Kestrelpaw chewed her prey thoughtfully, listening to Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw chatting away amiably. It was amazing how much Sparrowpaw had changed since they left SkyClan. Almost as if he now felt free of responsibility and criticism. She wondered whether he had always been like this, but had just hid it from everyone because he felt that he needed to set a good example for those younger than him, or maybe because he had seen how cats reacted to her and felt that it would be better to hide his fun side away. She got on with him so much better now that he didn't always say 'that's not allowed' or 'behave sensibly'.

Squirrelpaw laughed at something that Sparrowpaw had said, startling Kestrelpaw out of her thoughts. She looked curiously at the tortoiseshell she-cat. Come to think of it, Squirrelpaw had also become easier to get on with. More unrestrained. Maybe this journey had had something to do with that. It had allowed everyone to enjoy life more. She wondered if journeys always did this. Glancing at Harepaw, she changed her mind. _He_ had become quieter and much more reserved than he had been when they had left SkyClan. It was almost like something was wrong with him... Kestrelpaw felt an unexpected twinge of guilt when she realised that he had only become like this shortly after she had yelled at him. She may have hated him, but it didn't make her feel any better when she realised that she had made him feel bad. It was tempting to think 'well, so he should'. But it had been a week ago. Nobody should continue to feel bad after one _week_, in Kestrelpaw's opinion.

She sighed as she realised what she was going to have to do. It was worth a try, although she hated knowing that this would be the easiest way to stop her from feeling guilty. He _had_ hurt her feelings... but she prided herself on being a better cat than he was. Which meant that she would have to be more compassionate than he would have been had he been in her position. Kestrelpaw mumbled something about how annoying this was under her breath, and made her way over to Harepaw.

Squirrelpaw's head jerked up interestedly when she saw Kestrelpaw heading towards Harepaw, and she nudged Sparrowpaw. Her eyes alight with curiosity as to what the other she-cat was going to do, Squirrelpaw whispered to Sparrowpaw. "Hey, look at _that_."

Sparrowpaw's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, and he purred. "I think Step Two is working well."

Squirrelpaw snickered, and nodded in agreement. "So do I. What did you say to him?"

"Oh... only that Kestrelpaw was right, and that he was selfish, etc.," Sparrowpaw explained, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "I knew that would make him mope. And I knew that..."

"She would feel guilty," Squirrelpaw finished, and then the two settled down to inconspicuously watch what Kestrelpaw was going to do and say to the object of her annoyance.

Kestrelpaw's shadow fell over Harepaw, who refused to even look up from his prey. He was gazing at it as if it was of great interest, and Kestrelpaw snorted in disbelief. He really was being ridiculous. He could, at the very least, acknowledge her presence. But no. He was lost in his own little world of sulking. Ugh. How _immature_.

"I've come to apologise for yelling at you," Kestrelpaw said stiffly, and Harepaw's head jerked up in astonishment at her words. The shock on his face was really quite funny, and Squirrelpaw stifled a snigger, as did Sparrowpaw.

"You're _apologising_?" Harepaw said incredulously, his eyes widening.

"Yes, I'm _apologising_. It's really, really irritating to have you moping around all day and night. There are far better things for you to do than _that_. If I hadn't known better, I would've thought that you were really feeling _bad_ about what you said to me. Unfortunately, I do know you better, and therefore I can only conclude that you were feeling sorry for yourself," Kestrelpaw said sharply. If there had been a patch of stinging nettles nearby, then she would have shoved Harepaw in them. Serve him right for behaving like a kit. Some yarrow would have been nice, but, fortunately for Harepaw, there weren't any around at that particular place, or he might have found himself feeling rather unwell.

"I'm sorry," Harepaw muttered reluctantly, avoiding her eyes. He hated being brought down to this level, but it was the obvious thing to say in this situation.

Kestrelpaw nodded absentmindedly, and then did a double take. Wait. What had he just said? Had he just said _sorry_? Great StarClan. What was the world coming to? And then the strangest thing happened. Afterwards, she didn't know why she did it, but she was heartily glad that she had. Kestrelpaw began to laugh. Once she started to laugh, she couldn't help herself. She roared with laughter.

Harepaw stared at Kestrelpaw in bafflement. Why was she laughing? What had he said that was so funny? Then, much to his irritation, he began to laugh as well. Laughter was like that. It was catching, like an illness. If somebody began to laugh, really and genuinely laugh, then it was hard not to laugh yourself. No matter how angry you were, it just happened. Harepaw realised this after he began to laugh so hard that he couldn't get up from where he was lying down.

"Look! Look!" Squirrelpaw said in excitement, and she looked expectantly at Sparrowpaw. The only reply she received was a chuckle that got louder and louder, and she realised that Sparrowpaw was laughing as well. And then, of course, she herself was laughing. _She_ didn't know why she was laughing, and neither did Sparrowpaw. That was just the way of laughter. You laughed because others were laughing.

Once Kestrelpaw had managed to get control of herself, she shook her head in amazement. She felt immensely better after laughing, and she understood why her mother was always going on about how good laughter was for your health and mood. Birdheart said that, too. Kestrelpaw was astonished at how true it was, yet she was also happy that it was true. Finally, there had been something to laugh about. Harepaw didn't look too unhappy any more, either. Which was a good thing or bad thing, depending on how you looked at it. If he was in a good mood, he was more likely to insult her. At that moment, though, Kestrelpaw didn't care. So long as everyone was in a good mood, then she really didn't mind one bit.

"Well, I accept your apology," Kestrelpaw added as an afterthought.

"I meant it," Harepaw insisted, and then returned to the prey with renewed appetite. Kestrelpaw padded over to where she had left _her_ prey, and settled down to eat it happily, glad that they were now on good terms, or, at least, reasonably good terms.

* * *

"_No_, we're going _that_ way!" Kestrelpaw argued fiercely, her head jerking towards the right. The kestrel nodded vigorously in agreement, which should have settled things had she been up against any other cat. Unfortunately she was up against a certain tom that had once again become rather aggravating, although not as aggravating as he had once been.

"Idiot. It's _that_ way! He said so, and I trust him, not your birdbrain of a companion," Harepaw disagreed strongly, and nodded towards the hare, who had been the one to start the argument by telling Harepaw about his thoughts on which way they should go.

"If my _companion_ is a birdbrain, then yours is a harebrain!" Kestrelpaw said rudely, and look down her nose at the other apprentice, daring him to object.

Harepaw, being Harepaw, did object. "Birds have smaller brains than hares! Look at the _size_ of that kestrel's head! My companion is definitely smarter, and therefore we are going _this_ way! Come on, you two."

Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw exchanged looks, and said nothing. They weren't going to go the wrong way because of some stupid argument. They would wait until they knew which way to go, even if it meant asking for directions from another cat. Seeing as they were near a Two-leg place, it shouldn't be too hard to find a plump kittypet, or, better, a streetwise loner, that knew the right way to go.

"Why don't we just ask for directions?" Squirrelpaw ventured after a few seconds, during which Harepaw and Kestrelpaw glared heatedly at each other. The hare and the kestrel did the same, and Squirrelpaw would have found it comical on any other day, in any other situation. However, on this particular day she was too tired to bother laughing.

"No!" Kestrelpaw and Harepaw said angrily, turning their glares in Squirrelpaw's direction. The tortoiseshell didn't flinch, instead heading towards the Two-leg place to ask for directions. Sparrowpaw shrugged, and followed his friend.

"Um... well, see you!" Kestrelpaw darted after the two apprentices, leaving Harepaw standing there uncomfortably for a few more seconds. Then he reluctantly followed the rest of them, muttering all the way about 'stubborn she-cats' and how he hated them.

Squirrelpaw leaped lightly up onto a white thing that Kestrelpaw didn't know the name of. It seemed to have been put up deliberately to stop creatures from getting in, and Kestrelpaw felt extremely uncomfortable as she followed the tortoiseshell she-cat who was padding along the white thing as if she had been born to do it. The four cats walked along the white thing for several minutes, and then Squirrelpaw spotted something. Jumping down, the she-cat darted after a black figure, and the other three followed her quickly, unwilling to be left behind.

When they caught up with her, she had cornered an apprentice aged black tom, who was hissing and spitting ferociously. Kestrelpaw's own fur bristled when she saw him, and she stepped up to where Squirrelpaw was busily grooming her fur, as if there wasn't a thing unusual or even remotely scary about the black tom. Sparrowpaw and Harepaw paused as they, too, spotted the black tom. When the tom realised that he was largely outnumbered, the look in his eyes turned from anger to a slight hint of fear.

"What do you want with me?" he spat out, backing up against a much larger version of the white thing that Kestrelpaw and her friends had walked along.

"Your _meat_," Squirrelpaw said seriously, and then, when the tom's eyes widened in horror, she laughed at her own wit. "Kidding. No, we only want directions."

The tom relaxed slightly, sizing them up and then evidently deciding that they weren't much of a threat. Kestrelpaw felt rather insulted at the insinuation that she was a weakling. She bet she could beat this tom in a fight any day. After all, she had been trained by a _warrior_. This tom had probably never been trained in fighting in his whole life.

"Why?" the tom asked suspiciously, but his fur was no longer bristling. That was a good sign, Kestrelpaw supposed. Although, she wouldn't have minded fighting somebody. Preferably Harepaw, but it wouldn't have looked so good if she was fighting somebody on her side.

"We're... well... lost," Squirrelpaw admitted reluctantly, and the black tom's eyes lit up with amusement.

"_Lost_? You don't happen to be a bunch of kittypets, do you?" he snickered, and Harepaw bristled angrily, as did Kestrelpaw. They were both waiting eagerly for the chance to attack this tom.

"No, unluckily for you. Now... give us directions, and we'll be out of here," Squirrelpaw said calmly, unaffected by his insulting words. Kestrelpaw didn't know how _any _Clan cat could not be insulted by a stranger asking if they were a kittypet.

"Directions to where?" the tom asked curiously, and it was then that he noticed the kestrel, the sparrow, the hare, and the squirrel. "Why do you have prey following you around?"

"None of your concern!" Kestrelpaw snapped before anybody else could reply, and Squirrelpaw shot her a warning glance.

"They're not prey!" Harepaw added, which earned him an extremely disapproving look from Sparrowpaw, which he ignored.

"We need to get to... a place of big waters," Squirrelpaw said uncomfortably, not happy with having to tell another cat where they were heading. The other three apprentices looked uneasily at the black tom, certain that he would start laughing and declaring them mad.

"Big waters? You don't happen to mean... the Wide-Waters?" the black tom asked with even more curiosity in his voice, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully as he look at the four with renewed interest.

"Yes! Yes, that place," Squirrelpaw heaved a sigh of relief as she realised she wouldn't have to describe the place to him. It would be hard when she hadn't ever seen it.

"But... that's _far_ away! It would take... oh, I don't know... a _moon_ or more to get there. Where have you come from?" he asked in astonishment, genuinely interested in the reply to his question.

"Um... I'd rather not tell you. Can you just show us the way?" Squirrelpaw begged, and the tom reluctantly nodded. He led them out of the Two-leg place and padded over to where Harepaw and Kestrelpaw had been arguing. Then he turned to them, and Kestrelpaw looked at him suspiciously, as did Harepaw.

"I'm only telling you if you allow me to come along," he announced, and Kestrelpaw and Harepaw let out a hiss of frustration, both thinking along the lines of 'I'd rather go to the Dark Forest and back then have you along with us, stuck-up mousebrain'. Which was really quite funny as, less than a moon ago, Harepaw and Kestrelpaw would've thought the same thing of each other.

"Why would you want to do that?" Squirrelpaw queried, flicking her tail at Harepaw and Kestrelpaw to silence their murmurs of protest.

"I've always wanted to go there. I've heard great things about the place from my mother. Everyone in my family has been there at least once! Please let me come along!" the tom's voice was pleading, and Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw sighed, and then nodded.

"What? No! He can't!" Harepaw and Kestrelpaw said with identical looks of horror.

"Of course he can. Don't listen to them, they're just in a bad mood because they think you're going to get all the attention," Sparrowpaw advised the tom, who was looking delighted.

"Thank you," the tom said gratefully, and then began heading not right or left, but straight ahead. Squirrelpaw snickered at the resigned looks that had come over the two apprentices' faces.

"We were both wrong, then," Kestrelpaw sighed, and began to follow the tom. She had already decided that she wouldn't like him. He wasn't meant to be on this journey, and he was almost as bad as Harepaw because of his... his... come to think of it, Kestrelpaw couldn't find anything wrong with the tom. As the minutes ticked by, she finally settled on finding out what he was really like before judging him. That, at least, would be fair.

Unfortunately, Harepaw didn't quite feel the same way. He wasn't, and had never been, a very fair-minded cat. It just so happened that he had decided he would hate the tom because he felt exactly as Kestrelpaw had felt a few seconds earlier: that the tom wasn't meant to be on the journey. At least Kestrelpaw had been asked to go on it by the kestrel. _This_ tom had just barged in and decided to come along. Therefore, Harepaw decided not to like him. Even more unfortunate for the black tom was that, once Harepaw decided something, it was very difficult, if not nearly impossible, to make him change his mind.

**Five! Hurrah! Five cats on the journey! My favourite number! And, before you ask, no, I didn't do that on purpose. I just thought it would be interesting to have a cat who had been brought up in a very different way join the other cats. Or, at least, quite differently. **


	10. Coal

**Chapter 10! Officially double digits is this story. Hurrah! =hands out chocolate cake and glasses of milk=. And, yes, Harepaw is being a right killjoy. **

Coal

It was only on the second day of the journey from the Two-leg place that it suddenly occurred to Kestrelpaw that they didn't know what the tom's name was. It struck her as odd that nobody had bothered to ask. After all, _he_ knew _their_ names, but had somehow forgotten to introduce himself to them when they had been telling him their names. So, as they were walking along, she padded over to where he was, just ahead of her, and decided to ask him.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" she huffed, wishing that the pace Squirrelpaw ( the unofficial leader of the small group ) had set. Kestrelpaw glanced patiently at Coal, waiting for his permission to continue. Usually, she wasn't so cautious about asking things, but it occurred to her that he might not have wanted them to know his name. Why he wouldn't want to, she couldn't say.

"Sure," he looked surprised that she had even bothered to ask. Behind them, Harepaw fumed silently, as was his custom whenever any of the cats talked to the black tom.

"What's your name?" Kestrelpaw asked bluntly, flicking her ears to unsettle a fly that had decided to settle on her ear. The sun was scorching today, much worse than it had been in the earlier days of the journey. It was even hotter than it had been yesterday, and that was saying something.

"I thought I already told you? No? Well it's... Coal," was it just Kestrelpaw, or had he hesitated before saying his name? She dismissed it as her imagination. Why would he not want to tell her his name? There was nothing wrong with telling another cat your name.

"Coal? What does it mean?" she questioned, having never heard of anything called 'coal' before. As far as she could recall, it wasn't an animal or plant or even a colour.

"It's something the Two-legs use to make a fire," he explained, and, seeing Kestrelpaw's startled look, he laughed. "My mother was a kittypet once."

"Makes sense. He's as mad as a Two-leg. Why would Two-legs want to _start_ a fire? Haven't they seen what it can do?" Harepaw said unpleasantly, eyeing the tom with great dislike. Much to her delight, the tom stumbled on an uneven part of the parched soil that they were traveling over, falling down for a second before he pulled himself back to his feet. None of the other cats so much as batted an eyelash, much to Harepaw's displeasure. He mumbled about nobody caring what happened to him, and Kestrelpaw decided to let him feel sorry for himself. She couldn't be bothered to pay much attention to him anyway. Not when she was huffing like she was.

"Harepaw! Behave yourself!" Squirrelpaw scolded, and shot an apologetic look at Coal, who shrugged to show that he didn't care.

"Why do you call kittypets 'kittypets'? Don't kittypets call themselves 'house cats' or something? In the Two-leg place near my Clan's territory the kittypets always refer to themselves as 'house cats'," Kestrelpaw enquired, ignoring Harepaw's remark. She was too used to him being insulting to bother getting annoyed with it much any more. Unless it was directed at _her_ or her family, of course.

"Well... my father called my mother a kittypet, and... well... I picked it up from him. She became a loner when I was about... oh, I don't know... five moons old? She also started calling kittypets 'kittypets' then... so... well... yeah," Coal said reluctantly, looking at Harepaw warily, as if expecting him to say something else nasty. A huge bird of prey silently circled the sky above them, regarding them with interest as if it wondered how they would taste. Squirrelpaw glanced up at the bird nervously, but none of the others noticed it, and the bird evidently found them not to its taste, for it left them in peace.

"Oh," Kestrelpaw nodded, realising that he didn't want to talk about it any more. Her paws screamed at her to stop walking and give them a break, but she ignored them. "Well... both of my parents are Clan cats. They grew up knowing each other. Sparrowpaw's my brother, in case you didn't know."

"I don't have any brothers or sisters. Are Squirrelpaw and Harepaw related to you?" he asked curiously, and Sparrowpaw chuckled at the idea of him being a brother to Harepaw. The kestrel swooped down briefly to tell them that she could see something in the distance that would be a good place for them to rest.

"They wish!" Kestrelpaw exclaimed, and she saw Harepaw roll his eyes and mutter something derogatory under his breath. More seriously, she added. "No. Harepaw's got a brother back in SkyClan. Squirrelpaw's an only kit."

"So... why are we on this journey?" Coal changed the subject, seeing that Harepaw's mouth was open and the tom was sure to say something rude. If there was one thing that she had learned about Coal, it was that he was generally a peace-maker. He himself had said that he didn't like fights, because he saw no real reason for most of them.

Kestrelpaw eagerly began to tell him about how they had ended up heading to the Wide-Waters, Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw adding to the story occasionally, when Kestrelpaw had forgotten to mention some detail or other about their journey. The story was long enough that it took nearly an hour for her to finish, counting the rude comments from Harepaw which had all three apprentices glaring at him.

When the story was finished, Coal nodded thoughtfully. "You know, I believe that it has something to do with the WeatherClan."

"The what?" Squirrelpaw, Sparrowpaw, and Kestrelpaw all asked at the same time. Harepaw remained sullenly silent. The sun blazed down on them, and Kestrelpaw swallowed, realising that it had been ages since she had last had a drink of water.

"You haven't heard of them? _Every_ cat from where I come from knows of them. WeatherClan controls the weather. They decide whether it rains or snows or is sunny or is cloudy. They decide how hot or cold a day will be. From what I've been told, they are a very temperamental lot. Very easily angered. They rarely ever show themselves, but all the cats in this part of the land know of them. How could we not? They make sure we don't forget them. If we do for even a day, they will make the most horrible disasters happen. Floods, fires, even make the ground shake and crack," Coal said seriously, and Kestrelpaw inhaled sharply at the very thought of a Clan being powerful enough to change the weather.

"Are they... are they cats like us?" Squirrelpaw asked after a short pause. She started to walk faster, reminding them all that they didn't have an infinite amount of time to complete the journey. A huge tree briefly shielded them from the sun as they passed it, and Kestrelpaw relished the few moments of shade and coolness that the tree provided for the five cats.

"Yes... in a way. They are like... like... well... they are like us and they aren't," Coal said helplessly, unable to describe the Clan well enough. His tail flicked to dislodge a fly that had become rather too friendly for his liking.

"Like StarClan?" Sparrowpaw offered helpfully, and, when Coal shot him a puzzled look, the apprentice's face changed from curiosity to shock. "You haven't heard of StarClan? No... I guess you wouldn't have. StarClan is where all Clan cats go when they die. If they are good enough, that is. Those that aren't... they go to the Dark Forest -" Sparrowpaw's eyes narrowed - "or the Place of No Stars. Only the worst of cats go there."

"I think WeatherClan cats are sort of... alive and not alive at the same time," Coal struggled to describe the Clan, and when his statement was met with shock and gasps from the surrounding cats, he sighed in defeat. "Let's just say that I think WeatherClan has something to do with this."

"Do you think that WeatherClan is... _angry_ with us for not knowing about them?" Kestrelpaw asked after yet another pause, this time a puzzled and slightly uncomfortable one. The kestrel fluttered back to check on them, pausing briefly to hover in the air above them and listen to their conversation, and then fluttering ahead again.

"I don't think they would be. If you don't know about them, then they obviously don't want you to know about them. They make themselves known if they want to be known," Coal explained, and then quickly added. "But it's only my suspicions. There is every chance I could be wrong."

"_Now_ you tell us that," Harepaw said disagreeably, earning himself what must have been the hundredth warning glance from Squirrelpaw. The hare wrinkled its nose at the tortoiseshell she-cat, and sent her a 'how-dare-you-send-a-warning-glance-to-_him_' look, which the she-cat ignored.

"I can't believe I didn't know about WeatherClan. If they're really that powerful, then surely _someone_ in our Clan must have known about them?" Kestrelpaw queried in amazement, disbelief colouring her voice. Her paws were really aching now, and she bit back a complaint about the pace that Squirrelpaw had set.

"Like I said, if they wanted you to know about them, then you would know," Coal repeated patiently, making Kestrelpaw feel rather foolish, a feeling that she didn't relish experiencing. Coal chuckled at the annoyed look on the brown she-cat's face.

Kestrelpaw sighed, and then purred slightly. She found that staying in a bad mood for very long was not only annoying for other cats concerned, but very likely detrimental to her health. Maybe Harepaw would benefit from this knowledge. Excusing herself politely, and with a touch of regret, she padded over to the grouchy tom and put on her most cheerful face.

"Why are_ you_ looking so happy?" Harepaw asked suspiciously, his voice sharp. She noted with pleasure that she wasn't the only one who was finding this journey more than just a little bit exhausting. Harepaw looked as if he might go to sleep whilst still walking.

"I just thought that you might like to hear a theory of mine about how bad mood is somehow connected to your health. You know what Birdheart says about always looking on the bright side. He says that it's much better for you to be happy, because when you're really angry you tend to think about all these self-harming things you could do... and so on and so forth," Kestrelpaw chirruped happily, and Harepaw awarded her an even more annoyed look then he usually gave her. Satisfied, Kestrelpaw padded away from him and went back up to the front. After which she proceeded to sing, much to the horror of those that had ever heard her sing.

Harepaw moaned, and closed his eyes as if in pain. Which he most likely was, considering the cat who had started singing. The problem was that cats weren't natural singers. In fact, they weren't any sort of singer at all. Compared with some of the birds out there, cats were as bad as dogs.

"Kestrelpaw, I'm begging you, stop singing," Squirrelpaw ordered after a few pain-filled minutes, Sparrowpaw and Harepaw nodded vigorously in agreement. Coal did nothing, as he felt he didn't know Kestrelpaw well enough to complain about what she doing. Even if it was rather painful to his ears. Instead, he just looked on politely.

"Sorry, what was that?" Kestrelpaw said in a sing-song voice. Or as close to a sing-song voice as was possible for a cat with a singing voice like hers. An annoying fly tickled the inside of her ear, and her singing faltered for a split second as she shook her head to get it to leave her alone.

"_Please_," Squirrelpaw sighed, and muttered something about 'immature kits' under her breath, which Kestrelpaw heard but chose to ignore.

"Since you asked nicely, then yes, I will. Now... who has a story to tell? I'm bored out of my mind here," Kestrelpaw demanded immediately, and the group resigned themselves to trying to keep Kestrelpaw occupied. It has to be said that, though they did their best, their brains were nearly squeezed dry by the first three and a half hours, as Kestrelpaw had heard most of their stories before. It wasn't long before Kestrelpaw found herself once again singing, and the others found themselves once again having to endure it. But, despite this, the journey continued on regardless of the pain inflicted on four cats' ears by a certain singing apprentice.

**I have to admit that Harepaw is actually one of my favourite characters in this story. Don't ask me why. I just like him. And Kestrelpaw I adore. I've made her personality the sort of personality that a person like myself can't help but like. **

**Anybody like any particular character in this story? Just a curious question.**


	11. Mountain

**Eleventh chapter. Blah-ha-ha! ( a line stolen from Grover Underwood in _Percy Jackson_ ). Oh, and thanks to Lynsalt for reviewing!  
**

Mountain

Kestrelpaw hesitated as she peered down at the Two-leg place from where she and her companions stood on a small hill. The sun was just rising, and the birds sang shrilly in what Kestrelpaw supposed was delight. She wished they wouldn't. Some of them had the most horribly piercing voices, and Kestrelpaw's ears were rather sensitive.

"You sure it's safe?" Kestrelpaw queried as she watched a lone Two-leg walk around the Two-leg nests, looking very much as if it would like to escape from the place. She didn't blame it. The Two-leg place looked horribly confined and cramped. Why would anybody want to live in that place when they could live out in the open?

"Oh yes, quite sure. The Two-legs won't even notice us. It's far quicker than the other options. For those that walk, anyway," the kestrel glanced uneasily at the huge yellow monsters that were digging next to the Two-leg place on their left. On their right was a large river with currents that sped along at a terrifyingly fast pace. The five cats would have gone past the yellow monsters, but they had heard them creaking and groaning and bellowing last night, a sound that made all of the cats reluctant to go near the place. They could always skirt around the edges of the monsters, but beyond the huge dirt space that the monsters had made was a rather unfriendly looking place that was barren with one huge, towering mountain. At least, that was what it looked like to Kestrelpaw. The barrenness of that place was not appealing to her, or any of the other cats.

"We don't have any choice, unless you want to risk going towards that mountain, because I am _not_ going into the river," Squirrelpaw said firmly, and the others nodded and murmured their agreement. It was certainly an odd landscape, one that Kestrelpaw had never come across before. A Two-leg place with a large river on one side, a bunch of roaring yellow monsters on the other, with a mountain not so far away. Who would want to live here, she had no idea.

"I... I think it's safer to go by the mountain," Coal said uncomfortably, staring at the Two-leg place with apprehension. "I don't have a good feeling about that place. Especially with those monsters still there. I know they're asleep, but who knows when they'll wake up?"

Kestrelpaw had to admit that the black tom had taken the words right out of her mouth. She hated the thought of going through another Two-leg place. The last one had been awful. They had been chased after by a dog and then a Two-leg had thrown things at them. There was just something _unnatural_ about Two-leg places. They were so lifeless. The bigger they got, the worse it was. And this Two-leg place was pretty big. Bigger than the last one, although not quite as big as the one before the last. They had been through four Two-leg places in less than a moon, counting the one they had found Coal in. Each time they went through one, Kestrelpaw found it harder and harder to bear.

A bee buzzed by her ear hopefully, no doubt thinking that she was a flower or something. Kestrelpaw resisted the urge to swat it away with her paw. The last time she had done that she had been stung quite badly, and the pain had taken ages to recede. Just thinking about it made her paw feel rather as if it had only been stung a few seconds ago.

"I agree with Coal. I don't want to go through another Two-leg place. Remember what happened last time?" Kestrelpaw reminded them, and the other cats flicked their tails and twitched their whiskers as they recalled the dog chasing them and the Two-leg throwing shiny things at them, as well as rocks and a few other things they couldn't name.

"You _always_ agree with Coal," Harepaw said grumpily. The others ignored his remark, much to his displeasure. If there was one thing worse than not being in the centre of attention, it was being ignored completely.

"I... I think... I think we should go by the mountain. I know it's not a wonderful thing to look at, and the prey probably isn't too good, but I'd prefer it to nearly being eaten alive by another dog," Sparrowpaw's voice was firm. He had been the slowest of the five of them when they were being chased, and he still bore the bite mark from the dog when he had rounded a corner and the dog had bitten his tail. It had been a minor wound, but the memory was enough to make him shudder.

"I think we should go through the Two-leg place," Harepaw informed the others as he dislodged a curious fly from his tail by flicking it. They heard an indignant buzz from the fly as it zoomed away. "I hate flies. It's not even sun-high and they're already around."

"I hate to say this, but I think Harepaw's right. About which way to go, I mean. The mountain would be a far more difficult place to find our way around than the Two-leg place. At least when we're in the Two-leg place we can ask other cats for directions. And there _is_ prey to be found, although it may not be to our taste," Squirrelpaw said quietly but persuasively. Squirrelpaw was very good at being persuasive when she wanted to. Kestrelpaw had even seen her persuade Greenstar to allow Squirrelpaw to go out of camp alone once, and that would have been _very_ hard to do.

"Three against two," Kestrelpaw said cheerfully. "Which means that we go to the mountain. C'mon!"

"Wait," Squirrelpaw's voice said authoritatively as the others turned to follow Kestrelpaw. They all stopped and waited for Squirrelpaw to continue.

"We want to go straight ahead, right, kestrel?" Squirrelpaw asked the kestrel, who nodded her head in confirmation. "If we go by the mountain, our journey will be longer and more difficult. It may be safer in some ways, but not in others. We cannot afford to lose any time. Our Clanmates are in danger and we must hurry and take the quickest route. Which is currently the Two-leg place."

Squirrelpaw's words made sense, but Kestrelpaw still didn't like the idea of going into that place. It smelled dirty. Foul. It smelled like Two-legs and monsters. Basically, it was a smell that she wasn't keen to smell. In fact, she'd be very happy if she never smelled that smell again. Plus, the place looked dangerous. Already she could hear the monsters awakening and the dogs starting to bark. And then there was another feeling that came from her stomach, or at least that was where it seemed to come from. It was a feeling that she had only ever felt twice in her life. The first time it had told her not to shred Redstripe's nest, and, sure enough, Redstripe had been in such a foul temper that day anyway that Kestrelpaw had been immensely glad she had listened to that feeling. The second time it had told her to stay away from some bright red berries, even though her belly had been growling, and, when she asked Birdheart later what the berries were, she had been enormously relieved. Deathberries were deadly, Birdheart had told her. If you ate even one it could make you very ill. And Kestrelpaw had only been a kit out exploring, she would never have been able to survive eating as many as she had hoped to eat before she had had that feeling. Of course, she had been punished for straying out of camp when she wasn't even an apprentice, but it could have been worse. The point was that this _feeling_ had been right the first two times, and Kestrelpaw was willing to follow it a third time.

"No, I'm going to the mountain," Kestrelpaw said firmly, and the others looked at her in surprise, having never heard her sound so decisive before. She flicked her ear at a butterfly that had landed timidly on it, causing it to flutter off in fright.

"I think that's a really bad idea, Kestrelpaw," Squirrelpaw warned, and then said decidedly. "We're going through the Two-leg place, Kestrelpaw. End of story."

Squirrelpaw and the others began to walk towards the Two-leg place, but Kestrelpaw remained standing at the top of the small hill. No way was she going down there. The feeling in the pit of her stomach intensified until it was almost painful. She had to warn them. Stop them from going down there. It would lead only to trouble, of that she was sure.

"Kestrelpaw, what are you waiting for?" Squirrelpaw asked impatiently, turning to look at the brown apprentice expectantly. The other three turned to stare intently at Kestrelpaw as well, waiting for her to say something.

"I'm not coming. I don't like the idea of going that way, and I think that going via the Two-leg place is a _really_ bad idea. Trust me. If you go down there it will not end well. Something horrible will happen," Kestrelpaw said desperately, hoping that Squirrelpaw would realise how utterly sure she was of this. As she said it she realised that it really wasn't the Two-leg place in itself that was causing her distress. No, it was more like there was something beyond the Two-leg place. Many little dangers that would amount to big ones. It was the strangest feeling she had had in her life so far, almost as if she could see what was going to happen, but it was just out of her grasp.

"How do you know this?" Squirrelpaw asked, not at all convinced.

"I... I... I have this _feeling_ that it's not safe," Kestrelpaw was well aware of how unconvincing that sounded. Nobody, not even a kit, would go to a place just because somebody _felt_ that it was the right place to go. Especially if it wasn't even a feeling that they themselves felt. It seemed like a pretty hopeless task that Kestrelpaw had. Convincing her friends not to go to a place because she had had a _feeling_ that the place wasn't safe.

"Kestrelpaw, please," Squirrelpaw sighed impatiently, not in the mood for Kestrelpaw's 'feelings'.

"I, for one, think that she's right. I'm going with her," Coal said suddenly, and the other four cats gawped at him in amazement. Kestrelpaw then shot him a grateful look. At least _somebody_ believed her.

"I'm going, too," Harepaw said finally, which made everybody look at him in complete and utter astonishment. Sparrowpaw and Squirrelpaw looked at each other quietly, and then sighed.

"Fine. We'll meet up at the Wide-Waters. I hope we see you," Squirrelpaw said quietly, and the squirrel and sparrow followed their bonded ones as the four descended towards the Two-leg place. Kestrelpaw felt her heart sinking. Her own brother didn't believe her. Was she really that untrustworthy?

A bee buzzed and hummed as it settled on a flower eagerly, the slender stalk of the flower wobbling slightly under the bee's tiny weight. Kestrelpaw looked enviously at the small creature. It didn't seem to have any worries in the world, except for what it was going to eat. Right now, that seemed like the least of Kestrelpaw's worries. Her friend and her brother were heading straight towards danger and she could do nothing to stop them. They wouldn't listen. She didn't want to resort to force, but it seemed that she might have to. When she had come to this decision, however, the two cats that had caused her such agony had disappeared from view.

"Where did they go?" Kestrelpaw's voice came out as a choked whisper. The other two cats looked at her curiously, wondering why she was so upset. It had been her choice to stay behind, after all.

"Towards the Two-leg place. Where else, mousebrain?" Harepaw said bad-temperedly, annoyed at the stupidity of the brown apprentice's question.

"I think they've already entered the Two-leg place. Why?" Coal asked interestedly. "Have you changed your mind? We could still catch up with them."

"No. I think they're making a bad decision. They'll come to harm. I know they will!" Kestrelpaw felt like howling with annoyance, frustration, and pain. If they were harmed, and she was certain they would be, it would be all her fault. She could have forced them to come with her. The dangers in the mountains were nothing compared to what her brother and Squirrelpaw would face if they went _that_ way.

"Quit moaning about it. They made their choice, we made ours. Now let's get moving. We haven't got all day. _And_ the sun is already getting rather too hot for my liking," Harepaw grumbled, glaring at the sun as if it had personally done something to harm him. Kestrelpaw realised that Harepaw was right: already her fur was prickling uncomfortably in the heat. Sighing, and still angry with herself for not convincing the others to go towards the mountain, she padded after the two toms.

"Maybe it'll be cooler up on the mountain?" Coal said hopefully, looking at the huge mountain warily. It looked quite steep and dangerous to climb. Not to mention that the very tips of it seemed to be covered in snow, despite it being green-leaf. Which showed how cold it must be at the very top of the mountain. They would never reach the top of it. Going around the sides of it looked possible, though. That was something, at least.

* * *

"I'm hungry!" Stonekit wailed loudly, much to his mother's discomfort.

"Hush," Daisyheart murmured to her son. "Go to sleep. We must not complain, for we are luckier than some."

It pained Whitepaw to look at Daisyheart's five kits. The hot weather had driven away most of the prey, as well as the water. The remaining prey were scrawny and not very appetising. Daisyheart's kits, being young and unused to lack of prey and water, had been affected the most by it. Already Daisyheart's eldest son, Brownkit, was almost too weak to move. Birdheart had avoided saying so, but the rest of the camp had only to look at the little tom to know that it would be a miracle if he survived the green-leaf. Daisyheart herself wasn't looking too good. In fact, none of the cats in the camp were. Whitepaw hated looking at his Clanmates nowadays because it was painful to see their bones underneath their fur. It had only taken a moon or two of extremely hot, dry weather to reduce them to this. Whitepaw wondered how much longer it would be before a cat joined StarClan. It was a gloomy thought, but a highly likely one nevertheless.

"I can't go to sleep! I'm too hungry!" Stonekit whimpered. The other three kits mumbled something in agreement, but Brownkit didn't do anything. He simply lay there, feeling too weak to move. Whitepaw gulped, and turned his attention to the other cats, away from the nursery.

He decided that he might as well make himself useful. He had already been out hunting today, and there was a small hunting patrol still hoping for the best that had gone out earlier, so Whitepaw padded over to Birdheart's den. Maybe he could collect some herbs for the medicine cat, providing that the herbs weren't too shriveled up in the heat. As he neared the medicine cat's den, Whitepaw's ears pricked up, hearing voices. He paused outside the den, making sure that nobody would catch him eavesdropping. His mother had given him grief the last time he had eavesdropped on a conversation, when he was about eight moons old.

"Are you sure that you have had no sign from StarClan?" Whitepaw recognised Greenstar's voice. The leader's voice sounded rather raspy, as if he had had no water for a long time. Or very little, anyway. Which, of course, was true. Greenstar had insisted that Daisyheart and her kits have any water found first, and then the others could have it. Greenstar always drank the water last, which often meant that he had very little to drink. After all, when twenty-one cats had drunk the water before you, and it was a very small stream of water, you would be lucky to get anything.

"If I had had a sign from StarClan, I would have informed you, Greenstar," Birdheart's voice, low and just as raspy as the leader's.

"I don't know how much longer some of us can keep this up. Brownkit certainly won't if things continue like this. And I've had my doubts about the elders as well. They are not strong enough to endure this," Greenstar sounded as pained as Whitepaw felt.

"We must keep faith. StarClan will not let us die of starvation or thirst. We have survived so far, and we will survive this... this... drought," Whitepaw winced at the way Birdheart said the word. He himself had been avoiding calling it a 'drought'. To him it was as if, once said, it was true. He knew it was silly to believe it, but Whitepaw couldn't help it. Somehow, he had just been hoping it might have been an extremely long nightmare.

"Faith! _Faith_! You actually believe that StarClan will be able to stop this? When has StarClan ever been able to have power over a disaster like _this_? When? You tell me when, and maybe I'll believe you," Greenstar raged, and Whitepaw flinched as if the anger had been aimed at him. He had never seen, or heard, his leader so outraged and so... hopeless. Greenstar had always been a wonderful leader, in Whitepaw's mind, and he had rarely ever lost his temper. Except maybe a few times at Kestrelpaw, but then that was justified. Kestrelpaw was downright annoying at times.

"Greenstar, we must believe in StarClan. They will know what to do. We must wait for a sign. They will tell us when the time is right," Birdheart said calmly, his voice suddenly strong. Whitepaw wished that he shared the medicine cat's conviction. It would be so much easier to believe that StarClan would be able to sort this out. Deep down, though, Whitepaw didn't believe it. Not one bit.

"I do not know how you can still believe this when StarClan has still not sent _any_ sign," Greenstar sighed, his anger dissipating as quickly as it had come. "What about our missing apprentices? Have you been given any hint as to why they disappeared?"

"No. However, I do believe that they would only have gone for a very good reason. Sparrowpaw and Squirrelpaw are sensible apprentices, and I am sure that Squirrelpaw would not have left us knowing that her warrior ceremony was imminent, unless she had an excellent reason for doing so. I cannot be so sure about Harepaw and Kestrelpaw, though. It is well known that neither of them has a very rational mind, so let us hope that they are with the other two. I do believe that one of the four received a sign or prophecy from StarClan, though. I must admit that this seemed unlikely at first, but it is the only reason I can find that would cause them to leave the Clan without any explanation," Birdheart admitted reluctantly. He was a wise cat, but Whitepaw detected a hint of envy in his tone, as if Birdheart wished that _he_ had got the message from StarClan. In any other situation, Whitepaw would have found this very funny, but he currently felt that it wouldn't do him much good to laugh.

The wind rustled the dry leaves on the camp floor, and Whitepaw's eyes stung at the harshness of the wind, and the heat that it brought with it. Usually the wind would have brought coolness, but nowadays it brought heat and was little relief to the already overheated cats in the SkyClan camp. A fly eagerly latched itself onto Whitepaw's cheek, and he shook his head roughly to get rid of it. The fly stubbornly hung on until Whitepaw brought his paw up to his cheek and rubbed it against the cheek. The fly buzzed off in fear as it saw the paw approach it, and it didn't bother him again.

"There is nothing left we can do but hope, Greenstar. I would advise that you organise another hunting patrol. We do not want to tire out our Clanmates, but we also need prey," Birdheart said quietly, his voice once again raspy and dry-sounding.

Whitepaw didn't wait to hear the leader's answer. He slipped away silently, subdued by the thought of what sort of trouble his brother could be in. Harepaw had always been so irrational. He had always let his feelings get in the way of good decisions. If Harepaw had a grudge against a cat, he would do anything in his power to irritate and maybe even harm the said cat. If, by any chance, Kestrelpaw and Harepaw were together, then Whitepaw hoped sincerely that Harepaw had realised that holding grudges wasn't a good thing.

**I know some of you may be expecting a chapter in Squirrelpaw or Sparrowpaw's POV, but I haven't yet made up my mind on whether to do a chapter like that. **

**In the mean time, I am liking Whitepaw more and more. So much more sensible than the rest of my characters. Even more sensible than the two Ss ( Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw ), in a way. It must be hard for him, being the only apprentice in the Clan. Poor fellow.**


	12. Visions

**25 days 'til Christmas ( at time of writing this ). Okay, so I _know_ that it has been literally a few months since my last update, but I've been busy. Yeah, pathetic excuse, I know. I've been trying to write another fanfic, but every time I write down the plot and the ideas, suddenly I lost interest in that story. But I also will _not_ allow this story to go unfinished. No way. So... here I am, back after neglecting this little story for what seems like years. **

Visions

Kestrelpaw was running after Sparrowpaw and Squirrelpaw. She didn't know why she was running, exactly. All she knew was that they were in terrible danger, and that they had to keep running. One look at Sparrowpaw and Squirrelpaw's terrified faces told her this much. Kestrelpaw hadn't even bothered to say hello to the two other apprentices. She had just opened her eyes a few minutes ago and found herself racing for her life. Or, more accurately, for her dream-life, as Kestrelpaw didn't believe for one moment that she was really with Sparrowpaw and Squirrelpaw. She was miles away from them, but her dream-self was somehow with them, too. It was all too confusing to think about right now, especially considering that she was running from some terrible danger.

As she ran, she found herself unconsciously studying her companions. They had changed in some way that she could not comprehend. It had only been two months since she had last seen them, but already the two apprentices seemed more... grown-up. More like they were warriors instead of the apprentices they were. It was subtle, oh yes, it was subtle. Kestrelpaw wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been traveling with the two for as long as she had. Not to mention the fact that one of them was her brother, whom she had known her whole life.

Kestrelpaw wondered what it was about them that had changed. Physically, the only difference was that their fur was slightly shorter, adapting to the heat of the climate, and perhaps they were a bit larger than before. However, both of them had a strange look in their eyes. Almost as if... as if... but no, she couldn't quite put her paw on it. The answer was there somewhere, but it eluded her grasp. This frustrated her unimaginably. Kestrelpaw hated it when she _knew_ the answer but couldn't put it to words. What she did manage to decide, though, was that more than one thing had happened to the two on their journey that had changed them. Possibly forever. This thought saddened her somewhat. She had missed out something, something that she would never be able to understand, never be able to fully realise, but it was something huge, she felt sure.

It occurred to Kestrelpaw to look behind her, to see what they were running from. Ordinarily, she would have found this a daft idea, considering the fact that she was trying to watch her footing. However, this wasn't what she would classify as 'ordinary'. One thing she had noticed was that, no matter what she ran into, she just passed through it as if she wasn't there. On the whole, Kestrelpaw wasn't too worried about tripping over or bumping into something. Taking a deep breath, Kestrelpaw risked a glance behind her, and froze in shock.

A huge white dog was bounding towards her, yellow teeth bared in a ferocious snarl. Behind the dog were two others, also white. This struck her as rather odd, but she concluded that perhaps the Two-leg that owned the dogs liked the colour. Then Kestrelpaw noticed another thing, one that struck her as far more odd: all three dogs had red eyes. Not just any red. Vivid, blood red eyes that made her shiver just looking at them. One of the dogs seemed to see her looking at them, and snarled even more viciously than before. This caused Kestrelpaw to panic enough that she started to race ahead again, running faster than she ever had in real life.

She overtook Squirrelpaw, and then her brother. Never in her life had she been filled with such absolute terror. The dogs could see her! And she wasn't even _there_. That was what really scared her. If they could attack her in her dream, did that mean that she would be wounded in real life? Kestrelpaw didn't want to stop and find out.

A particularly loud snarl made her chance another look over her back, and she saw, to her utmost horror, that one of the white dogs was now literally only a feet away from Squirrelpaw. Kestrelpaw shouted out a warning, but Squirrelpaw didn't seem to have heard her. The older apprentice merely continued to run, terror making her brown eyes seem bigger than usual, until they look like they were about to pop out.

In desperation, Kestrelpaw leaped at the white dog that was closing in on her friend, only to be pushed back by some invisible force that was so strong it knocked her onto her back. Kestrelpaw got up without a second thought and charged again, determined to somehow stop the huge white monster. Again she was repelled by the invisible force. Again she charged. And again she was repelled. All the time the white dog was getting closer and closer to Squirrelpaw, who finally seemed to have realised that one of the dogs was far too close for comfort, and sped up. It was obvious that the she-cat was exhausted, though. She wouldn't be able to run for much longer. Kestrelpaw briefly wondered how long her friends had been pursued by the white dogs. It must have been quite long for Squirrelpaw to look so tired, unless she and Sparrowpaw had encountered other, similar difficulties very recently.

"Squirrelpaw!" Kestrelpaw yelled, although she didn't know why she was bothering. It had been made pretty clear that neither of her friends could see or hear her. Sparrowpaw's ears seemed to flick backwards, however, almost as if he had heard her. Then her brother rounded and charged at Squirrelpaw's attacker. Kestrelpaw couldn't believe it at first. That was suicidal. Although, come to think of it, she had done the same thing herself just a few seconds earlier.

Kestrelpaw made to assist her brother, but was forced back by an invisible boundary. It was like someone was preventing her from becoming involved in any way with the pursuit, except to view it, of course. Kestrelpaw let out a howl of annoyance and fear, and redoubled her efforts to force her way past the invisible barrier that kept her from helping her friends. Even as she tried to break the barrier, she saw Squirrelpaw flung to one side, and Sparrowpaw raking his claws furiously down the flank of the leader of the white dogs.

"Foolish kit. You cannot intervene with what is destined to be," an unfamiliar voice said behind her, sounding half-amused, half-irritated. Kestrelpaw whirled around to see the owner of the voice, and came face to face with what had to be the most unusual-looking she-cat she had ever seen in her life.

The she-cat was unusually long-legged for a cat, with huge, sharp green eyes that seemed to dominate her face. Her ears were very long, pointed, but were also tufted at the tips, which would have made Kestrelpaw snigger under any other circumstances. The she-cat's muzzle was slightly more elongated than those of the other cats that Kestrelpaw had seen in her life, and the she-cat's whiskers were also longer than usual, which would have made the cat looked slightly comical had she not possessed an air of superiority and power that made one feel disinclined to laugh at her. The she-cat's tail was especially long, being at least twice as long as Kestrelpaw's own, and that was saying something, as Kestrelpaw's tail was considered rather long for a cat. But what Kestrelpaw found the most unusual about the other cat was the fact that the she-cat's dark brown coat was covered in odd, light grey swirls. Despite the fact that she was certain she had never seen the she-cat in her life before, the strange cat looked familiar, although Kestrelpaw wasn't quite sure who the she-cat looked like. Overall, Kestrelpaw was immediately sure of two things: that the she-cat was not only very powerful, but was also beautiful, albeit in an odd way.

"Who are you?" Kestrelpaw asked instantly. It was the first question that had occurred to her after she had taken in the she-cat's strange appearance. Behind Kestrelpaw, the sounds of battle raged on, and there was an occasional sharp howl of pain.

"I don't see why that concerns you," the she-cat replied haughtily, amusement receding from her features so that she looked colder than before.

"Fine. Why am I here? Can't I help them? Please!" Kestrelpaw somehow knew that it was because of this she-cat that she was both here and unable to help her friends. The knowledge only served to make her angry and irritated at the other she-cat, knowing that here was the cat to blame for her predicament.

"I have already told you, you can't help your friends. You are her in spirit, not in body. At any rate, you aren't allowed to change what has been destined since birth," the other she-cat said disdainfully, looking at Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw fighting as though it were a mere game that was not to her liking. Then she turned back to Kestrelpaw and said indifferently. "As for why you are here... ah... now that's something I _can_ answer. You are here to see what happens when cats don't listen to messages sent to them by their superiors. We gave them fair warning, but they wouldn't listen. So this is what happens. Sooner or later cats pay for what they have done. Every living creature, for that matter. Bees, wasps, flies, mice, ants, dogs, cats... everyone. However, usually the punishment is less... obvious than this. The punishment suits the crime, though. And these two certainly deserve this. Oh yes. But we'll let one of them get out of this alive. Don't worry."

Kestrelpaw looked at the she-cat in disbelief, feeling sick. What had her brother and Squirrelpaw done to deserve this? Was the she-cat trying to play some kind of horrible, devastating joke? Kestrelpaw's eyes traveled back to where the fighting was going on. One of the dogs was, miraculously, retreating. Unfortunately, the other two had only increased their attack, as if more determined than ever to harm Kestrelpaw's friends. She wished that she could help them, but she knew that the strange cat would not allow her to. Anger welled up inside her at the thought.

"What did they do to deserve _this_?" Kestrelpaw demanded furiously, feeling an odd prickling in her eyes that she had never felt before. She hastily controlled her emotions, hard as it was. She wouldn't let her anger get the better of her, not at this vital point in time.

"They didn't listen to you. We sent you a warning, which you wisely heeded, along with the other two. _These_ two decided that they knew better than us, though. And that cannot be allowed. We have our reasons for asking cats not to pass into certain territories, and they usually listen. Thus, they are not harmed," the she-cat said dismissively, flicking her tail as if to show how much the two cats fighting meant to her. Kestrelpaw struggled to not let her feelings get the better of her, but it was harder than before. This she-cat was being blatantly rude and inconsiderate! Not to mention cruel and unforgiving! Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw had only followed their instincts, what was wrong with that? They didn't deserve this!

"They made a mistake!" Kestrelpaw protested hotly, unable to bear the thought of what the she-cat had said earlier, 'But we'll let one of them get out of this alive'. That had very unpleasant meanings for Kestrelpaw. There was only one way a sentence like that could be taken, and Kestrelpaw was fighting furiously to keep her emotions at a reasonable level.

"Mistakes... are not acceptable. We do not appreciate it when cats deliberately refuse our instructions. Yet there is also something else you should realise... they didn't _make a mistake_, as you have so nicely phrased it. No. They _deliberately disobeyed a direct order_ from us. That does not warrant forgiveness. Maybe one day, when you are not so naive, you will understand why this must be so. StarClan will have another join their number tonight. That is the one downside. StarClan," the she-cat sniffed in distaste at the word. "They think they are so high and mighty. But they are not. Not in the slightest. We are far more capable than they are."

Something dawned upon Kestrelpaw then, and she repressed a gasp as understanding flooded through her mind. "You were the one who gave me that _feeling_ when we were deciding which way to go! _That's_ what you meant when you said they had disobeyed me! Which means that..."

For the first time since Kestrelpaw had asked her first question, the she-cat looked slightly amused, as if what Kestrelpaw was saying was entertaining. The she-cat's huge green eyes stared piercingly at Kestrelpaw, making the younger she-cat feel extremely uncomfortable. Then the strange cat said, in a tone of slight approval, "Yes, go on. You have a suspicion you would like to share with me?"

"You're one of the WeatherClan cats," Kestrelpaw stated, without a trace of uncertainty. There was no denying it. Yet then another thought occurred to her, and she decided to voice her thoughts. After all, maybe she would be able to convince the she-cat to save her friends? It was a small hope, but a hope nevertheless. "But I thought you could only control weather?"

The she-cat laughed. The laugh was as strange as its owner, sounding like a mix between a cold, trickling stream in winter, and the singing of the birds at dawn. Yet, despite its oddness and coldness, it was a lovely sound. Kestrelpaw hated to admit it, but it was. She glared at the she-cat, but her ears were focused on the sounds of fighting. A loud, shrill squeal tore the air, and she saw, out of the corner of her eye, another white dog retreat into the distance. She marveled briefly at the fact that her friends had been able to drive away two dogs as big as those, but then she turned her attention back to the she-cat, who was contemplating on what to say in answer to Kestrelpaw's query.

"How utterly devastating for WeatherClan. To be only believed to be able to control the weather. Yes, that is what our most well-known power is, which is why we are called what we are. Oh, but we are so much more, Kestrelpaw. So much more. I myself don't claim to be able to destroy other beings at will, but there are a few among us that could do so quite easily... however, I am forbidden to interfere with that particular business... unless I have been told explicitly to see to it, as I have now," the she-cat sounded rather disappointed, as though she would have liked to have had more power. Kestrelpaw repressed a shudder at the thought of what this she-cat could do with more power than she already had.

"But... why... what do you want me to do now? Why... why... show me _this_? Why?" Kestrelpaw's voice sounded odd in her ears. It was higher, more brittle sounding. She hated it when her voice sounded like that. It had only ever sounded like that when she was under great emotional pressure, which had only happened once before... although that time had been considerably of less importance than this. It had been when she and Sparrowpaw had had an argument, when they wer four moons old, and her mother, father, and leader had sided with Sparrowpaw. She couldn't recall what the argument had been about, but she knew that she had actually been in the 'right'. It seemed so long ago that she had almost forgotten about it, but it suddenly came rushing back to her, as fresh as if it had happened only a few hours ago.

"Excellent point," the she-cat conceded reluctantly. "I have been instructed to guide you on the rest of your journey -" here the she-cat looked darkly skywards - "because some of my authorities believe that I should be punished for my outspokenness. Seeing to your safety is now my number one concern, according to them. Although I, personally, don't feel inclined to do so. Yet I cannot argue with those in higher position than me, so I shall submit to their wishes. I have been promised that, should I succeed in my task, my previous faults will be forgotten, and I shall have an unblemished reputation once more. So... I shall leave you now. Enjoy the scene."

Kestrelpaw looked blankly at the she-cat as she disappeared with a sound, and then a large scream of pain could be heard in the direction of the fight. Whirling around, Kestrelpaw was horrified to see that Squirrelpaw was lying on the ground a short distance from the last remaining dog, with blood covering Squirrelpaw entire right side, so that it looked like she had red fur now, as opposed to tortoiseshell. The last dog seemed to howl gleefully as it, too, vanished into thin air like the strange cat had done. Kestrelpaw didn't even stop to wonder at this, she was too busy trying to reach her friend's side.

Sparrowpaw was standing over Squirrelpaw, his head bowed. He seemed to have several injuries, although none of them looked deep. Kestrelpaw found that, although she could now almost touch her two friends, she couldn't hear a word they were saying. This would have been far more annoying had she not been so overwhelmed by feelings of grief, horror, and anger, the latter of which was directed at WeatherClan for making this happen.

She saw Squirrelpaw open her mouth and say something, saw Sparrowpaw answer, and then her world tipped upside down, a blinding mix of colours filling her vision until she couldn't tell which was left and which was right. And then she felt herself falling... down... down... down...

**Now, before you get all huffity with me about Squirrelpaw... I had this death planned for a while. It sounds cruel and stuff... but... um... yeah. It was kind of necessary. **


	13. Leaves

**Whitepaw's POV... again. I like zis character. It's nice writing from his point of view for a change, especially considering how hard it is to write from the heroine's ( if you can call her that ) point of view.**

Leaves

A soft breeze stirred the dried leaves on the hard, cracked ground. The leaves rustled and crackled softly, as if trying to speak to each other. Three of the leaves broke away from the group, dancing and twirling in a seemingly random direction together. Another breeze, stronger than the first, scattered the three leaves, so that each of them went in a different direction, a different mission in life. The first leaf blew into a cave, where it did not reappear. The second leaf landed in a tiny stream of water, and was carried away on the current, the water soaking it. The third leaf didn't land for quite some time, seeming content to hover in the air. Then it was carried by the strong breeze towards a small camp, where a group of cats rested in the shade, trying their best to escape the heat of the day. The leaf was right over the top of the group when the breeze suddenly failed, and sent the leaf spiralling down, to land on the nose of a dusty white and grey tom, who sneezed at the contact.

Whitepaw's eyes opened to slits as he regarded the dry brown leaf that had disturbed him. He snorted and batted the leaf away from him, annoyed that such a small thing had disrupted his fitful doze. The sun was beating down relentless, despite it being almost leaf-fall. He had hoped that the drought would have ended by this time, but StarClan was obviously feeling unkindly towards the cats of SkyClan. Not that he would have dared to say this to Birdheart, who was stubbornly persisting in believing that StarClan would help them. Not a day went past when the old medicine cat would drone on about how StarClan would save them from this misery, how StarClan wouldn't let them all join the ranks of the starry Clan. Whitepaw didn't believe a word of it. If StarClan had wanted to help SkyClan, they would have done so by now. They wouldn't have waited until both Brownkit had died from thirst and hunger. They wouldn't have waited until Tallkit, Daisyheart's youngest, had died from the same causes. And they wouldn't have waited until Daisyheart and Sandfeather's mother, Smallflower, had died, either.

He closed his eyes again, in the hope that he might be able to sink into some sort of oblivion for a while. Sleep was a way into another world, where one was able to just escape from this world. Whitepaw's mind relaxed slightly as he drifted into the almost trance-like state that he experienced whenever he was seconds away from falling asleep.

And then he was floating... floating in a landscape of dizzying colours. One moment it was white, then black, then grey, then red, then yellow, then orange. And then it would burst into a rainbow of colours all at once, dancing and swirling in a dizzying way. The colours pulsed and seemed to dive at him, and then bounce away, in an endless circle. Whitepaw's eyes began to water with the effort of trying to focus on something, so instead he decided to focus on nothing. This was actually easier than he had expected it to be, considering the fact that focusing on nothing made his mind swim with trying to figure out what he was focusing on when he was focusing on nothing. Whitepaw shoved the confusing muddle of thoughts from his mind, and looked around, half-expecting to see another cat somewhere in this colourful land.

Sure enough, he _did_ see another cat, but it wasn't the cat he had expected to see. In fact, Whitepaw wasn't sure who he had expected to see, but it certainly wasn't the one that he saw now. He felt his mouth open and close at the impossibility of his predicament, but then resolved to just accept it, as, after all, this was merely a dream. Wasn't it? Whitepaw nodded to himself in agreement with the statement. There was no other way he could be seeing that cat.

"Whitepaw?" the brown apprentice gasped in complete bewilderment, obviously just as confused as he was.

"It appears to be me, yes. Unless somebody changed my name without my consent," Whitepaw rolled his eyes, but he couldn't really blame the she-cat for looking so shocked at seeing him. After all, they hadn't seen each other in around two moons, or perhaps more. Whitepaw had lost count of time, there had been too many things going on in his life for him to bother with it.

"But... but... how... why... how is everyone?" the brown apprentice managed, her eyes still wide. Whitepaw found this mildly amusing, although he wasn't sure why. However, her question rather dampened his spirits. What would he say? That, since she had left, three cats had died? That more were going that way? He didn't want to dishearten her, but it was, he acknowledged, probably better to tell her the truth than for her to find out when she came back to camp. If she ever came back.

When Whitepaw hesitated in answering, Kestrelpaw knew immediately that things were bad back at the camp. Worse than when she had left, of course. But so much worse. She knew in that instant that someone had died. Someone that shouldn't have died. Kestrelpaw stared at Whitepaw as he sorted out how to phrase whatever he was about to say, and wished that she hadn't asked the question. What if it was her mother? Her father? The leader?

"I... I... Brownkit and Tallkit died a few days ago. Smallflower died this morning," Whitepaw said flatly. He saw Kestrelpaw flinch as if she had been stung at his tone, but he didn't regret it. How was he supposed to say it? Just the thought of Brownkit and Tallkit made his throat constrict, so it was better to say it quickly rather than dwell on it, like he had been in the first few days after the kits' deaths. Tallkit had only outlived his elder brother by one day, and Daisyheart had been heartbroken. Whitepaw suspected that the blow of losing her kits had been almost too much for her to bear. If it hadn't been for Fernheart, who had recently had her own kits, Daisyheart might well have just given up hope.

"This is all my fault!" Kestrelpaw wailed suddenly, much to Whitepaw's shock. The brown apprentice looked far more miserable than he had ever seen her before, and Whitepaw wished that he would wake up. He didn't like being confronted with more misery than he had already had to endure. He concentrated on waking up with all his might, but his brain was refusing to obey him.

"How... how is it your fault?" Whitepaw asked hesitantly, almost timidly, as if afraid of the answer. No, scratch that. He _was_ afraid of the answer. If Kestrelpaw told him why it was her fault, he was sure that he would begin yelling at her. He had sorely wanted someone to blame for all that had happened, and Kestrelpaw was unwittingly providing that very someone.

"I should have traveled faster! I need to go now! I have to! Get me out of here, you stupid WeatherClan cat! I don't want to hear any more! I want to go! I need to get there faster! Oh, I hate you, you stuck-up, stupid, brainless furball! Get me out of here!" Kestrelpaw suddenly began ranting with all her might at some unknown entity. Whitepaw stared at the other apprentice as if she had gone quite mad. Who was she talking to? Surely it wasn't _him_? No, it couldn't be! And what was that about another Clan?

"Let me go! Let me get out of here! I can't bear it any more! Wake me up!" Kestrelpaw howled furiously, which only served to make Whitepaw more confused than ever. Who in StarClan's name was the she-cat talking to? She looked rather deranged, Whitepaw thought. Perhaps Kestrelpaw was starting to lose her mind. It had only been a matter of time, he thought. After all, what cat in their right mind would put mouse bile on a piece of prey for the leader?

Then, to Whitepaw's astonishment, another cat materialised next to Kestrelpaw's howling form. His first impression of the cat that had just appeared was that she was, without a doubt, the strangest cat he had ever seen. The new cat looked as if she was built for running, for she was elongated in almost every respect. Long muzzle, long tail, long legs, long whiskers, long ears, even, if Whitepaw's eyes weren't failing him, longer and sharper claws than was usual for the average cat. Her brown fur was covered in odd, misty grey swirls, markings that Whitepaw had never seen the like of before. Yet those weren't what had struck Whitepaw most when looking at the she-cat. No, what had struck Whitepaw most was the undeniable fact that the she-cat resembled someone he had seen once, although he wasn't sure who. He shrugged off the feeling. That was impossible. He had never seen the she-cat before in his life. End of story.

"You!" Kestrelpaw accused immediately, glaring at the she-cat with undisguised dislike. Whitepaw was surprised, as he had never seen Kestrelpaw look at any cat with such distaste as the way she was looking at the new arrival. Not even Harepaw had warranted such enmity from the brown apprentice.

"I would advise you not to be so disrespectful to your superiors," the other she-cat said snootily. Whitepaw got the distinct feeling that this she-cat was not someone to be messed with, although the she-cat also radiated the unmistakable aura of someone who thought far too much of themself.

"It's all WeatherClan's fault!" Kestrelpaw hissed furiously, staring thorns at the she-cat. "If they hadn't been so damn proud and snooty and haughty and arrogant and conceited and full of themselves then nobody would have died!"

"You do realise, I suppose, that all the words you have used have the same meaning?" the she-cat regarded the brown apprentice with faint amusement, although she was giving off an offended air. Then she turned her abnormally large green eyes on Whitepaw, making the tom shiver with apprehension. "As for you... hmm... what shall I do with you? Calm down, little one -" the she-cat glanced briefly at Kestrelpaw's furious face before returning her gaze to Whitepaw - "I won't harm your friend. Not today. He is needed back at his camp. I want you to carry a message to your Clan leader, and your medicine cat, Whitepaw. Hmm... oh yes, dismissed."

The she-cat had flicked her tail at Kestrelpaw, who, with a last howl of rage, vanished from the blindingly colourful landscape. Whitepaw suddenly felt very vulnerable. This she-cat could make cats disappear. That would require an almost unthinkable amount of power, in his opinion. Not to mention the fact that he was completely and utterly confused about who and what the she-cat was. His mind was whirling with all that had happened, and was about to happen.

"Ah yes. Where was I? Hmm... messages, wasn't it? Yes. Now, I want you to carry a very simple message to your medicine cat and leader. It won't require a great amount of intelligence to remember it, I hope. All I need you to say is that... 'WeatherClan is watching'. Yes. That's it. They should understand that. Simple and cutting. And mysterious," the she-cat sounded delighted with the message she had composed. Whitepaw wasn't exactly sure what the message meant, except for the obvious. However, he wasn't about to say so in front of this she-cat. He had the uneasy feeling that that would be very unwise.

"I... I'll remember it," Whitepaw said rather lamely, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Good. Now, begone! Wake up! Disappear from this world! Go!" the she-cat was obviously enjoying the power that she possessed, and Whitepaw was very glad that she was dismissing him. He didn't know why he found her so unnerving, but he would be very glad if he never saw her again. The she-cat seemed to share his sentiment, as, before she vanished from his sight, she rewarded him with a disparaging look.

"WHITEPAW!" someone yelled in his ear, startling him. Whitepaw's eyes snapped open to find the medicine cat apprentice, Sandfeather, leaning over him and looking rather disgruntled at his seeming inability to heed her words.

"Wha-what's wrong?" Whitepaw mumbled, his mind feeling rather numb. He had just witnessed something very important, in his dream. Now what was it? He tried to remember what his dream had been about. It had been a very colourful dream. A lot of colours. And there had been two others in his dream... he had been asked to take a message to his leader and the medicine cat. Suddenly he leaped to his feet as memory came flooding back to him in a rush.

"I – Whitepaw, what is it?" Sandfeather stared at the tom in bewilderment, losing her annoyed expression almost instantly.

"First you tell me why you woke me up," Whitepaw said distractedly. He had to get both the leader and the medicine cat in the same place without causing too much fuss. The others would notice if he suddenly decided to talk to both at once. Then his eyes landed on Sandfeather. Perfect. The medicine cat apprentice would be able to get the medicine cat whilst he got the leader. Or... no. He wasn't sure if Sandfeather should know. Birdheart would most likely be in the medicine cat den, anyway, so he would just have to get Greenstar.

"Oh. It's just that Greenstar and Birdheart want to see you. They asked to meet you in the medicine cat den. Why, what's wrong?" Sandfeather paused to stare confusedly at Whitepaw, who was looking at her in amazement. His mind was already whirring as he tried to piece together everything that had happened. It couldn't have been chance that the leader _and_ the medicine cat wanted to see him at the same time as he needed to see them.

"Nothing. See you," Whitepaw dashed off towards the medicine cat den without another word. Once he had delivered his message he would be able to puzzle out what had happened. But first he needed to deliver the message.

Whitepaw skidded to a halt in the medicine cat den, almost bowling over a surprised-looking Greenstar in the process.

"Ah, Whitepaw. You have something to tell us?" Birdheart asked, his voice containing a note of worry.

"How did you know? Who told you?" Whitepaw demanded, unable to come to terms with the fact that they seemed to have known he would have something to tell them before he knew it himself. After all, Sandfeather seemed to have been trying to wake him up for some time, which would have meant that he wouldn't have received the message when she had first started yelling his name.

"I received a sign. From StarClan," Birdheart added, and, seeing Whitepaw's bemused expression, decided to elaborate. "I saw a leaf land on your nose."

Whitepaw stared blankly at the medicine cat for a moment, and then had to suppress laughter. "How... how is that a sign from StarClan?"

"Simple. Sandfeather and Greenstar were out hunting, and Sandfeather noticed that a leaf was being carried on a small stream. At first, she didn't think anything of it, until Greenstar stepped into the stream and the leaf stuck to his paw. A dry leaf was sent to me, in my den. It landed on my head, so I rushed outside, knowing that there was a reason for it. I saw a leaf land on your nose, which solved the mystery," Birdheart explained, which only served to make Whitepaw more incredulous. How anybody could make three leaves out to be a sign from StarClan was beyond him, but, as it seemed to have been correct, Whitepaw decided not to comment on the unlikelihood of such a thing happening.

"Okay. Well... I _do_ have a message for you, and Greenstar," Whitepaw added. "I received a... vision, I suppose you could call it... from a strange cat. In the vision there was Kestrelpaw. She seemed okay, but, when I told her about who had... had... joined the ranks of StarClan, she went demented. She started to demand that someone release her from this dream... and then a cat appeared, and told Kestrelpaw not to... well... be rude."

"What did this cat look like?" Greenstar enquired, his eyes narrowing at Whitepaw's words.

"She was... odd. Strange. I mean, she was _really_ odd. Her whiskers and tail and claws and legs and ears were too long. And her eyes were... well... I suppose you could say creepy. They were huge. Too big. And her fur was... covered in swirls. Grey swirls. But... I... I think I've seen her before," Whitepaw felt compelled to add, then wished he hadn't. At his words Greenstar and Birdheart had exchanged worried looks.

"Never mind that. What was the message?" Birdheart said, although he clearly was dwelling more upon Whitepaw's description of the she-cat than he let on. Greenstar was also looking lost in thought, seeming to be remembering something that had happened long ago.

"The she-cat asked me to tell you that... that 'WeatherClan is watching'," Whitepaw's voice descended in volume until it was barely a whisper. For some reason, a cold breeze rushed into the medicine cat's den at his words. Both his leader and the medicine cat exchanged troubled looks, as if Whitepaw had said something very bad indeed.

"Can I ask exactly what WeatherClan is?" Whitepaw ventured after a long silence, during which both the older cats seemed to contemplate the message.

"WeatherClan, Whitepaw, is a very ancient Clan. They are older than the original SkyClan. Older even than StarClan. And far more powerful, in their own way. Very few cats know of WeatherClan nowadays, to my knowledge. Even fewer believe that they are real. But they are, as you have seen. They just tend to keep to themselves. It is said that the first WeatherClan cats were those cats that refused to go to StarClan, and refused to go to the Dark Forest. In fact, they refused to depart this world at all. Because they blatantly refused to leave this world through death, they were forced to leave this world whilst alive. Yet there was also something else that set WeatherClan apart. The first WeatherClan cats were those that were gifted by who knows what. Rare they were, but they existed. These cats were given extraordinary gifts, in the hope that they would vanquish some evil... some of the cats succeeded, some didn't. A few of the cats became proud, too proud. That was why WeatherClan was born in the first place. The cats believed themselves too good for StarClan and the Dark Forest, so they created their own Clan. WeatherClan. Over the ages, WeatherClan cats have developed their powers, and gradually become so powerful that, if they took it into their head to do so, they could destroy StarClan," Birdheart sighed heavily, as if he could not believe that he was saying this to Whitepaw. Then he glanced briefly at Greenstar, who seemed to incline his head slightly, giving Birdheart permission to say whatever it was he was about to say.

"You may be wondering why you have never heard of WeatherClan before now, Whitepaw. The answer is that only the medicine cats and the leaders have ever possessed this knowledge, if them. The knowledge is kept secret, for fear of more cats believing in WeatherClan... you see, the more cats who believe in them, the more powerful they get. And we certainly don't want them any more powerful than they already are," Birdheart heaved a huge sigh, looking almost relieved to get the words out.

"But... doesn't that mean that if _no_ cats believed in WeatherClan, they would cease to become powerful?" Whitepaw queried. This seemed to make sense to him, but Greenstar and Birdheart both shook their heads at his words.

"No, Whitepaw. WeatherClan _make_ themselves known. There is always at least one cat who believes in them at any given time. Even if no cat were to believe in them, I doubt that it would affect them beyond draining them of their powers slightly. But you say that Kestrelpaw knows of them? This is bad... it means that they want something from the missing apprentices. Badly. If they are willing to allow the apprentices to know of their existence, it means that they really, really need something," Greenstar's voice was worried, as he contemplated what this ancient Clan could possibly want from a group of apprentices.

"Wait a moment... I don't understand. I thought they want to make themselves known? Then why do you say that it's bad if they want something so badly that they _make_ themselves known?" Whitepaw's mind seemed to reel from all the confusion of the last few minutes. He had never known he could become so confused, but he evidently was. He wondered briefly if it was possible for his mind to give out with all the information that it had been stuffed with. Whitepaw was quite willing to believe that that was possible, given that so many things nowadays seemed possible.

"Because, whilst more believers mean more power, it also means that WeatherClan is unable to operate as peacefully as they like. It is widely believed, by those who know of their existence, that WeatherClan cats are immortal. They are prayed to and asked to give many things to those few believers. WeatherClan, I believe, doesn't appreciate this. It interferes with their daily lives, and they have always regarded themselves as superior to others, so they would think that they should not stoop so low as to help those cats that pray to them for things. Also, according to legend, they are great believers in destiny. So they would not interfere," Birdheart tried his best to explain the workings of the minds of those in WeatherClan, and, considering the circumstances, Whitepaw thought the medicine cat was doing pretty well. Whitepaw didn't fancy having to explain the existence and mind-workings of an ancient Clan. That would be rather difficult, he fancied.

Something in what Birdheart had said caught Whitepaw's attention. "They're immortal?"

"I don't believe so. I think they are merely longer lived than most cats," Birdheart replied calmly, and Whitepaw was visited with the certainty that Birdheart knew what he was talking about. For a cat who had only recently tried to claim ignorance of what was happening to the Clan, Birdheart certainly knew a lot about WeatherClan.

Whitepaw stared at his paws whilst he digested what he had been told. He wondered whether he would be allowed to inform any of his Clan members of the ancient Clan's existence, but silently decided not to, unless prompted. He didn't want WeatherClan to gain in power. Especially if that meant more disappearing acts.

"Whitepaw, thank you for delivering this message to us. I shall ask you to leave for now. Greenstar and I have much to talk about, and we will try, to the best of our ability, to decipher what the message means," Birdheart said authoritatively after a short pause, and flicked his tail to dismiss the apprentice. Whitepaw obediently got up and made his way to the exit of the medicine cat den. However, before he managed exit the medicine cat den altogether, he heard Greenstar calling his name. Whitepaw turned to find his leader staring at him with piercing green eyes.

"Whitepaw, I would appreciate it if you didn't mention this meeting to any of the other members of the Clan. If they ask you why we sent for you, say that it was to discuss your coming warrior ceremony. Which, I might add, will be held very soon," Greenstar allowed a note of faint amusement to creep into his voice at the end of his speech, and he noted the apprentice's barely disguised delight at the words.

"Thank you, Greenstar. I can assure you that I will inform nobody of this meeting without your leave," Whitepaw promised, and then exited the medicine cat den. For the first time in days, his spirit was soaring. He was going to be made a warrior! He had hoped that he would be made a warrior soon, but he hadn't expected it to be quite _so_ soon. After all, he was only twelve moons old. Then his spirits drooped as he suddenly remembered that, had Harepaw been here, he, too, would have been made an apprentice. At that moment, Whitepaw missed his brother more than he had ever missed him in his life.


	14. Wish

**Again from Kessie's point of view! I must say, I'm enjoying myself immensely now. I feel like I'm back in my home ground, writing about cats. Just goes to show that you only have to write one story about cats to make you feel like you've been writing about them all your life ( which, in my case, is quite untrue ).**

Wish

Kestrelpaw tripped over a tree root and landed flat on her face. Huffing, she righted herself and continued walking as if nothing had happened. She didn't even bother to look back at the two toms behind her, seeming to pretend that they didn't exist. Or, at least, she was currently unaware of their existence. Her mind was on what she had dreamed about the night before. First, she had witnessed Squirrelpaw's death, then she had seen Whitepaw. In reality, she shouldn't have been able to see either of them, considering that they were miles and miles away from where she was.

"Mouse for you thoughts?" Coal enquired, curious as to why Kestrelpaw had been so quiet throughout the course of the day. It certainly wasn't like her. She was usually constantly chattering away about all manner of things, from prey to what would happen when they arrived at the Wide-Waters.

Kestrelpaw didn't seem to hear him at first, but then her head jerked up as if she had been stung badly by a particularly vicious bee. "I... um... nothing."

Harepaw snorted in disbelief at her words, and eyed the she-cat with derision. "You don't seriously expect us to believe _that_? Honestly, we're not stupid, you know. Spit it out."

Coal sent a warning glance to the other tom, and then returned to staring at Kestrelpaw in concern. "What's wrong, Kestrelpaw?"

Kestrelpaw stopped suddenly, causing Harepaw to almost collide with her. She ignored the apprentice's curses and mutters about her clumsiness, instead choosing to concentrate on what to say next. How could she say that she had seen the death of Squirrelpaw and heard about the deaths of Brownkit, Tallkit, and Smallflower, without sounding as if she was deluded? They surely wouldn't believe that she had received a vision telling about, and, in the case of Squirrelpaw, showing the deaths of her Clanmates. Or would they?

"Squirrelpaw's dead," Kestrelpaw finally said flatly, causing the two toms to freeze in their tracks, both staring at her in disbelief. Coal's expression also contained traces of horror, however, whereas Harepaw's face only showed his disbelief.

"How could you know that?" Harepaw demanded, the first to recover from the shock of Kestrelpaw's words. His tone of voice was suddenly more venomous than it had been in the past few days, and Kestrelpaw wondered why. It couldn't be the direct result of her words, could it? She didn't think so.

"I... I had a... vision," Kestrelpaw said unconvincingly, and then, steeling herself, she launched into a more descriptive account of her vision. "I thought I was dreaming at first. I was with Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw, and we were being chased by these three huge white dogs. I swear it! -" Kestrelpaw added when she saw Harepaw's disbelieving look - "And then I... I saw this strange cat. She was the oddest cat I've ever seen. She had these really big green eyes that looked like they were about to pop out, they were so big. And her whiskers were so long that they drooped. But the weirdest thing about her was that she had these grey swirls on her coat. They were in all different sizes, but they gave her a... an... an... a... an odd look. She looked kind of familiar, though. I don't know why. Coal, what's wrong?"

Coal's expression had shifted to one that look half-horrified, half-astonished. The two SkyClan cats looked at the loner in bafflement, unable to think of the explanation behind his suddenly shocked expression. Coal looked from Kestrelpaw to Harepaw and back again, then managed to croak out. "WeatherClan?"

"Yes," Kestrelpaw confirmed Coal's suspicions. Then she paused, taking a deep breath, and continued her narrative. "And she said that I couldn't interfere with destiny. She blabbed a lot about destiny and fate and how superiors should be respected. But then she said that... it was Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw's fault that Squirrelpaw was dead. She said that it was _WeatherClan_ that had sent that feeling to me... you know, when we were about to go to the Two-leg place, but I said we shouldn't. She said that nobody disobeyed WeatherClan's direct orders, and so what happened to Squirrelpaw was deserved. It -" a sudden rush of anger caused Kestrelpaw's voice to ascend in pitch - "it was all her fault! She was the one who killed Squirrelpaw! And... and I _watched_ Squirrelpaw die! I... I...and... and the she-cat said that she was my guide, now."

If possible, Coal's expression was even more horrified by the end of Kestrelpaw's tale. He seemed at a loss for words for a few seconds, and then said in a worried voice. "Your guide? -" Kestrelpaw nodded - "But that's... that's terrible news! WeatherClan only ever take an interest in a cat if... if..."

"If what?" both Kestrelpaw and Harepaw chorused, and then glared at each other for saying the same thing at the same time. It was petty, but Kestrelpaw still disliked it when she had to agree with Harepaw or Harepaw voiced her thoughts.

"I... never mind. Kestrelpaw, you said the cat looked familiar?" Coal queried, obviously agitated by something in what Kestrelpaw had said, although he was refusing to share it with them.

"Yes. I don't know why, I told you. I'm pretty sure I've never seen her before," even as she said it, Kestrelpaw's certainty began to wane. Despite being certain the first time round that she had never seen the she-cat before, she had the creeping feeling that she _had_ seen the she-cat before, albeit long ago. "I... no... I _have_ seen her before, but I don't know where or when."

"Oh great. This is just perfect. First, Kestrelpaw has a crazy vision that tells her Squirrelpaw is dead, despite the fact that we haven't seen her for two moons and must be _miles_ away from her. Second, Kestrelpaw tells us that she has, in the same vision, met a cat from WeatherClan, and Coal says that it is _really_ bad when WeatherClan seeks out a cat. Third, Kestrelpaw decides that she has actually met the cat _before_, which either means that she is deranged, lying, or, quite possibly, that we are in very grave danger," Harepaw muttered bad-temperedly to himself, not at all happy with this latest turn of events, nor the news that it brought with it.

"Shut up, Harepaw," Kestrelpaw snapped impatiently, not having time for Harepaw's ill-tempered musings. Then she turned back to Coal. "I also dreamed that I saw Whitepaw... and he said that... that... Brownkit and Tallkit and S-S-Smallflower are d-d-d... have joined StarClan. And then I saw that cat again. She wanted to talk to Whitepaw about something, I think, but I didn't get to h-h-hear what it was."

Harepaw glared at Kestrelpaw heatedly. "And _now_ she claims that three members of my Clan have died!"

"It's true!" Kestrelpaw gulped, screwing her eyes shut tight. Guilt washed over her at the thought of her Clanmates' deaths. It was all her fault. If only she was already at the Wide-Waters. Then she could at least prevent more deaths, but they were surely still at least a week away from it. Then she mentally hit herself. She was _not_ going to go all mopey at this stage of the journey. Her Clanmates depended upon her stopping the drought. They were dying, and all she could do was sit and sulk! She heaved a huge sigh and opened her eyes to find Harepaw still glaring at her and Coal looking at her in concern. Not much had changed, then.

"Let's go. We can't afford to waste any more time," Kestrelpaw said abruptly, and started to walk briskly in the direction that the kestrel had earlier told them was the way to the Wide-Waters. A cough interrupted her walk, and she turned to see the kestrel gesturing subtly in another direction with its head. Not having time to be embarrassed, Kestrelpaw altered her course and continued on without the bat of an eyelid.

The two toms exchanged amused looks, and then followed the she-cat. The hare hopped after the two toms, muttering curses under its breath for having to walk again. Nobody paid attention to the hare, not even Harepaw, and it eventually subsided into occasional snorts of displeasure as it bounded after the cats and the bird.

"I can see it! Look!" Kestrelpaw squealed with excitement, all the pressure and solemnity of the previous days forgotten in an instant as she sighted the longed-for waters. It was far in the distance, to be sure, but she could actually see it! Her spirits seemed to soar to never-before-experienced heights as she realised that she would probably reached her destination within the next few weeks, if they really picked up the pace. Then she suddenly remembered how much was at stake if she failed in her task, and her spirits drooped again. She wondered what had happened to her so-called 'guide'. She hadn't seen the WeatherClan she-cat since the vision in which she had met Whitepaw and been informed of Brownkit, Tallkit, and Smallflower's deaths.

"That's great!" Coal's ears pricked up in anticipation of the moment they would finally confront the Wide-Waters. Harepaw merely grumbled something about how much faster they would now have to walk, given that both his companions had now sighted the dark expanse of blue water. Harepaw had actually seen the Wide-Waters first, having spotted them during one of his brighter moods, when he wasn't glaring darkly at his feet and mumbling about 'WeatherClan' and 'ridiculous visions'. However, he hadn't been willing to share his observation with his companions for fear of them suddenly deciding that the need for speed was all the more urgent now they could see their destination. Harepaw wasn't the kind of cat to wish doom on his Clan, in fact, he was a very loyal cat, but he was, and always had been, rather sceptical of the idea that some divine power was responsible for his Clan's plight. Rather, he believed that it was more to do with misfortune than with cats that had magical powers. He was pretty sure his companions were deluded, and thus had deduced that it was safer for everyone concerned if he kept a close eye on them and made sure they didn't go and infect everybody with their strange beliefs.

"Come on, Harepaw! We can see it now! It's just there!" Kestrelpaw squeaked, and began, predictably, to walk faster than before. Coal followed her example, which left Harepaw and the hare to sigh and shake their heads sadly before following their companions.

"She's darn annoying," the hare confided to Harepaw, who found that he agreed completely with the hare's assessment of Kestrelpaw.

"I think you took the words right out of my mouth. _And_ she's predictable," Harepaw added, his tone making it clear that he found this an unforgivable fault. The hare nodded in total agreement. Harepaw liked talking to the hare, as he found that, not only did the hare agree with everything he said, the hare was also more tolerant than most of Harepaw's bad moods and fits of temper.

"Very much so. The only one more predictable than her is that horrible kestrel," the hare glared at the said being, and then returned to his conversation in a calm tone, as if nothing had occurred. "However, I suppose it is necessary to keep their company, as we need to make sure they do not terrorise the other cats. Especially that _Coal_."

"He's worse than Kestrelpaw!" Harepaw exclaimed suddenly, his eyes narrowing as he glared at said tom, who was blissfully unaware of the conversation that was taking place behind him.

"My sentiments exactly," the hare said in agreement, bounding alongside Harepaw as the two descended down the side of a gently sloping hill. The two picked up their pace to catch up with their companions, but kept a reasonable distance between them, so that they could resume their complaints about the two other cats, without being overheard by them.

Harepaw looked thoughtfully at the two in front of him, and then his eyes flicked up towards where the kestrel flew easily above them. A thought occurred to Harepaw, and he lowered his voice so as to make sure that nobody would overhear what he said to the hare. "You don't think there is something between them?"

The hare scoffed at this very notion. "Not likely! Though they would be suited to each other, boring, raving lunatics as they are. Why do you ask?"

"Curious," Harepaw shrugged indifferently, and then proceeded to give voice to his thoughts. "Do you think that she was telling the truth about Squirrelpaw?"

The hare's usually sharp black eyes softened slightly at the mention of the she-cat's name. "I hope not. I always found that the squirrel was far wiser than the others, and she was certainly a very good companion and an excellent one to talk to."

Harepaw nodded in genuine sadness. "I hope it isn't true, too. I miss Squirrelpaw. It's very hard when I find I'm the only one who thinks even partially rationally."

"Hey, you two! Hurry up! We're going to make excellent progress today!" Kestrelpaw did an energetic little dance that Harepaw and the hare found very strange, but then shrugged and accepted that it was just one of what they considered many of Kestrelpaw's oddities. They obediently 'hurried up', and, once they had caught up with their companions, subsided into grumbles and sighs throughout the remainder of that day's journey.

By the time they reached where they would stop for the night, about ten hours later, darkness had already fallen. It was a cloudy night, the huge dark grey clouds covering the moon and promising a storm on the way. Kestrelpaw and her companions had taken shelter in a cave. It had a tiny entrance that stretched sidewise for several metres, only just big enough for a fully grown, albeit slender, cat to squeeze through, but it opened into a large space that was easily big enough for two dozen cats. In one corner of the cave Coal was curled up, his eyes only half-open, dozing. In the other corner, as far away from Coal as he could possibly get, was Harepaw. This wasn't saying much, as the cave narrowed at the very back, so there were only a few feet separating them. Harepaw's right side was leaning against the cold cave wall, and his eyes were narrowed to slits as he conversed quietly with the hare. Kestrelpaw was at the very front of the cave, peering out into the gloom, the kestrel perched on her shoulder its head tucked under its wing.

Thunder boomed outside the cave, and rain suddenly began to pour down furiously. Thanks to the large ledge that hung over the cave, the inhabitants were kept dry, although Kestrelpaw could feel the occasional drop splash against her nose. Nevertheless, she didn't retreat back into the cave, instead just staring out at the storm. She was so close to her goal. Only a few more weeks, and she would be there. Kestrelpaw closed her eyes. She just hoped that she would be in time to prevent any more deaths.

"How much longer until we reach the Wide-Waters, do you think?" Kestrelpaw murmured to the kestrel, not taking her gaze from the landscape outside.

"Two or three weeks, depending on how fast we move and whether we are interrupted. Maybe, if we're lucky, we can reach it in a week and a half," the kestrel replied quietly, taking her head out from under her wing. She glanced at Kestrelpaw and then murmured. "I'm going to have a rest, okay? We've got a big day ahead of us, if we plan on reaching the Wide-Waters as soon as we want to."

Kestrelpaw saw the kestrel flutter over to a niche in the cave wall and settle down comfortably for the night, and then turned her attention back to the storm outside. She absentmindedly licked her left paw, and grimaced at the taste. Glancing down, she was irritated to find that, because of all the days of traveling without washing, her paw still looked grey with dust. She turned her head slightly so that she could see her back, and sighed. Her back, too, was now a greyish brown, thanks to its lack of washing. She gave up with a small groan, deciding that she could take care of it another day.

Sighing, she rose and padded over to the back of the cave. She curled up in between the two toms, Harepaw eyeing her with distinct distaste. Ignoring him, she closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. They would soon be at the Wide-Waters, and would be able to, hopefully, stop the drought and therefore prevent more members of her Clan from joining StarClan. It would only be a matter of time before she would be back at SkyClan's camp. Maybe she would be made a warrior when she got back. She wondered vaguely what her warrior name would be. Kestrelpaw hoped it wasn't something horrible, like Kestrelnose or Kestrelbelly. No, she wouldn't be able to stand that.

It seemed like only seconds before she opened her eyes and found herself standing on sand, staring across at a wide expanse of water. Water lapped at her paws, and she retreated automatically, although she didn't find it as unpleasant as she had thought. Kestrelpaw glanced down at her paws, surprised to find them still dusty, even though the water had touched them. Then she realised the reason: she was in a dream.

When this thought occurred to her, she was immediately on her guard. Last time she had had a dream this vivid, it had been because a WeatherClan cat had been interfering with it. Kestrelpaw looked around frantically, searching for the strange cat that had appeared to her twice before, but she couldn't see anyone. As far as she knew, she was the only one for a mile around.

"Looking for something?" a voice enquired of her. Kestrelpaw turned her head slightly to her right, and found the strange she-cat standing next to her, looking out at the horizon.

"You," unlike before, Kestrelpaw's voice was calm, only holding the faintest note of accusation. She didn't even bother to look at the WeatherClan she-cat, instead focusing on some point in the horizon.

"Yes, me. Who did you think it would be? No. Never mind that. I've come here to... grant you a... wish, I suppose you would say," the she-cat replied without a trace of emotion in her voice, as if she was saying something that was perfectly ordinary and should be expected.

"After all that you've done, you are giving me a wish? I suppose I couldn't ask for Squirrelpaw and the others to come back, could I?" Kestrelpaw queried, knowing full well what the answer would be. It wasn't as if she _would_ wish for that, either. It would be unnatural, once someone had joined the ranks for StarClan, to wish for them to come back.

"Of course not. That would defeat the point, wouldn't it? No... your wish will be for something more... attainable. Something that would, let us say, speed up your journey?" the other cat suggested, but, even as Kestrelpaw wondered whether that would be the wisest thing to ask for, she knew that it was what she would wish for. And she suspected the strange she-cat knew that, too.

"Why didn't you ask me that when we started the journey? It would have saved so much time and energy, and Squirrelpaw wouldn't be dead, either. Why?" Kestrelpaw demanded, suppressing the urge to yell at the she-cat. Before she could even think twice about it, however, the feeling was sucked away, like all the other strong emotions she had had whilst in this place.

"Well, journeys are character-building. If I had transported you straightaway to WeatherClan's camp, then you wouldn't have met Coal, and you wouldn't have learned about WeatherClan through him. You would most likely not have appreciated how hard a journey can be, and you almost certainly would be a spoiled brat. Not that you aren't one now," the she-cat added as an afterthought, much to Kestrelpaw's irritation. She wasn't a spoiled brat, was she? The idea was ridiculous!

"Now, would you like me to bring your journey to an abrupt halt and spirit you away to where WeatherClan... hmm... live. Yes, where WeatherClan live...?" the she-cat enquired politely, without the faintest trace of interest in her task. Almost as if she didn't care either way. Kestrelpaw wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. WeatherClan seemed like a rather stale old lot. Not much personality, unless you counted an irritating habit of looking down on those that were not from their ranks.

"Yes. I'd love that -" Kestrelpaw hoped the other she-cat could hear the sarcasm in her voice -" Perhaps you could grant my companions and I a trip to wherever you WeatherClan cats have their camp? And... could you bring Sparrowpaw, too?" Kestrelpaw added as an afterthought. She knew that her brother wouldn't give up searching for the cure for the drought until he found it, and she wasn't going to let him spend all his days searching for it, as he most certainly would if he didn't come with them.

"What a wonderful idea," the she-cat's voice suggested that she didn't really think it was such a wonderful idea. She didn't even seem to have caught the sarcasm in Kestrelpaw's speech. "Your wish is granted, Kestrelpaw. I shall see you tomorrow. We have many things to discuss once you arrive, much as I hate to say so, little one."

"Wait. One more thing... you said that you were my 'guide', didn't you? Why haven't you been guiding me, then?" Kestrelpaw asked curiously, not in the least offended. She was pretty sure that she would be offended when she woke up, but this place seemed to have drained her of all negative feelings. Or most of them, anyway. Kestrelpaw wondered if sarcasm counted as a negative feeling. Then again, _was_ sarcasm a feeling? She would have to think on that.

The she-cat regarded the SkyClan apprentice for a moment, and then laughed. "Oh, but I have. You just haven't realised it yet."

And with that the she-cat vanished, leaving Kestrelpaw to gaze out at the horizon for a moment before she, too, felt herself vanish.

**Ach. The conversation between Kestrelpaw and the strange she-cat was rather... stiff. I don't know why I made it that way... it just turned out like that. Oh well.**


	15. WeatherClan

**Thank you to frostfirecat, She Who Lives, and Smokefrost for reviewing! **

**frostfirecat - yes, I do think that the story is going too fast myself. I don't really have an excuse for that. I've been trying to remedy it recently, but unfortunately when I start to write a story, I begin to forget that there are other people who are going to read it who need more information than what I'm giving them. So, yes, I apologise for that and I will hopefully start to be able to show improvements in my story ( even if just by a little bit ).  
**

**She Who Lives - I unfortunately do tend to quibble, as you've pointed out. I'm afraid that's a bad habit of mine ( not just when I'm writing, but also when I'm talking in real life ). It reflects my rather disorganised state of mind and how my mind quickly jumps from one thing to another. Like my aforementioned bad habit of going too quickly in a story, I'm also trying to mend this one. Don't worry about pointing it out - it's good that you did. I appreciate criticism ( or even just people pointing things out that I hadn't realised before ) because it's good for me to realise where my faults lie, and I can hopefully improve my stories.**

**Smokefrost - You are one reviewer who sees far too much :).**

WeatherClan

The first thing that Kestrelpaw noticed when she awoke was that her neck ached horribly. She pondered upon the reason for this for about five seconds, and then it dawned upon her that perhaps it was because she had been going somewhere very fast. The second thing that she noticed was that the sounds around her were rather strange. She knew they were words, but she couldn't understand them. She wondered about this for another five seconds, whereupon she decided that it was because whoever was speaking was doing so in a different language. Which then led her to puzzle over who _was_ speaking. It was then that she noticed a third thing, one that she had previously overlooked. She was lying on something that had at first seemed to be very soft, almost like she imagined lying upon air would feel, but now it had somehow hardened and was more like a very rough rock.

It occurred to Kestrelpaw that it might be a good time to open her eyes and have a look around herself, so that she could perhaps see where she was and who was talking. Upon reflection, she recognised that this, indeed, was probably what she should have done first of all.

Having decided upon a course of action, Kestrelpaw forced her heavy eyelids open to find that at least a dozen strange cats were staring down at her in disapproval, muttering to themselves. And when she thought 'strange' she meant it in two ways, the first and most obvious being the fact that they were very odd looking cats. The second meaning that she didn't know them.

The cats had noticed her coming back to consciousness, and now broke out into an unintelligible stream of words that Kestrelpaw was pretty sure she didn't want to know the meaning of. Then the cats suddenly started to move away from her, as if she had sprouted horns or some equally abnormal feature. The real reason behind this, she realised, was that a new cat had arrived. This cat glared at the other cats, telling those who were still standing close by to, in the plainest words possible, 'back off'.

Kestrelpaw struggled to her feet, realising that this cat was either someone who was very important, or someone who didn't belong in the place. Considering the latter highly improbably, she settled on the former notion. Although, the tom that now stood before her _did_ look rather more strange than the rest of the cats surrounding her.

"We are pleased to see that you and your... _companions_ -" the tone in which the tom said it made Kestrelpaw pretty certain that he had been about to say something less complimentary - "have arrived unharmed. The journey can usually be rather distressing and... mmm... dangerous for you who are not from WeatherClan. Of course, Mistral is a very good when it comes to transporting those who do not live amongst us, but you never know," the tom's voice was slightly nasal, which Kestrelpaw might have sniggered at once, but now didn't find it nearly so amusing. There were other things to think about at the moment. Too many things.

"Mistral?" Kestrelpaw queried, surprised. It wasn't a name she had ever heard before, but, like so many other things, stirred some long forgotten memory in her mind. A memory that was just out of sight, just out of her reach. She struggled to remember _why_ the name was familiar, but failed dismally in this task.

"Surely she didn't neglect to mention her name to one such as you?" the tom's voice was genuinely surprised, as if he couldn't believe that Mistral had overlooked what seemed to be a very important point amongst his kind. Or maybe it wasn't that it was important to the WeatherClan cats, but important to Kestrelpaw. She wasn't sure.

"What do you mean?" Kestrelpaw looked around herself for the first time and took in her surroundings. She was standing on what appeared one moment to be grass, then it seemed to melt away and was replaced by hard earth, which in turn was replaced by icy cold snow. The ground felt oddly flexible under her paws. Around her, the landscape kept shifting, as if it was scared to stay still for one moment. First it was a towering forest with trees that were taller by far than any Kestrelpaw had ever seen in her life. Then it was an arid desert, the sun glaring down at her with a determined ferocity that made her fur prickle on the back of her neck. And then it changed so that it showed a dazzling sunset over purple-y mountains that glimmered under the sun. "Where am I?"

"You are in our home. It changes so that those who stumble upon it by accident will never be able to leave. It is hard leaving a place that changes shape every five seconds. Those who are not here by our command become lost and, eventually, most die," the tom said in a matter-of-fact voice, as if he were merely informing Kestrelpaw of the differences between a mouse and a squirrel.

"But that's horrible!" Kestrelpaw gaped at the tom in shock. "It's not their fault that they come here!"

The tom eyed her with pity. "You have much to learn, little one. Of course it's their fault. If they had even the smallest bit of sense, they wouldn't have bothered coming so far from their own homes. As it is, most come here because they are stupid. Reckless young cats who think they know everything and can do everything. They soon learn otherwise, though."

"How do they get here, though?" Kestrelpaw asked, puzzled. Surely it would be easy to spot a place that kept on changing shape every five seconds from quite a while away.

The tom sighed, as if he felt that Kestrelpaw should have known the answer straightaway. "Nearly all of the cats come here on purpose. Our camp is situated in a place that is extremely difficult to get to by mere _accident_. You can't see where it is until you enter it, though. Which is why a very small amount of cats enter here by mistake. We release some of these cats, though it is really their own fault they are so stupid."

Kestrelpaw felt a spark of irritation, and she was about to make a sharp retort when she realised something. She couldn't see Coal, or Harepaw. Or Sparrowpaw, despite the fact that the strange she-cat – Mistral – had said that she would bring Kestrelpaw's brother along. So, instead of making a rude retort, she settled on asking for the knowledge of her companions' whereabouts. "Where are they? Coal and Harepaw and Sparrowpaw, I mean?"

"Ah. You'll meet them soon enough. But first I should introduce you to the rest of WeatherClan. And myself," he added, flicking his ears forwards. Kestrelpaw didn't know the reason behind him doing so, but she felt compelled to laugh at the effect. The tom's ears, which had to be the longest Kestrelpaw had ever seen on a cat, were now more pronounced than ever. The tom paused, as if trying to impress upon Kestrelpaw the importance of what he was about to say, and then spoke in deep tones. "My name is Tornado."

Kestrelpaw stifled a snort at the name. These WeatherClan cats really did have very weird names. However, she thought it best to refrain from saying so to the tom. It never had done her any good in being honest about what she thought about others. She remembered one time she had said to Redstripe that he was a 'cranky, bad-tempered, obtuse, deliberately mean, rude, thoughtless, quick-tempered and ugly excuse for a cat', when he had refused to tell her a story. This had, naturally, earned her a sharp talking to from her father, a punishment that involved not being able to go out of the nursery except when absolutely necessary from her leader, a week of nasty looks from Redstripe, an 'I-told-you-not-to-be-rude-to-your-elders' lecture from Sparrowpaw, and approximately three days of snickers from the apprentices, with Harepaw being foremost in her memory as the starter of the snickers. And all this because a four moon old kit had decided to speak her mind. After that, however, she had not been quite so quick to speak her mind. Although it _had_ taken a few more scoldings and punishments to get it through to her that it was, most of the time, simply not acceptable for one of her age.

"Now, follow me," the tom, Tornado, commanded sharply, leaving no doubt that he expected to be obeyed. Kestrelpaw decided that obedience was required in this situation, and so followed him as ordered to.

They walked straight ahead, through what rightly should have been an ocean. Kestrelpaw was surprised when she noticed that her paws weren't wet in the slightest, and so glanced down. To her astonishment, it seemed that she was floating a few inches above the water. Not enough so that someone would notice on first glance, but enough so that her paws were being splashed by the small waves that rolled easily towards the shore. Then the landscape changed, and she felt earth beneath her feet again. Around her, the scenery had now changed so that it showed... Kestrelpaw gasped as she recognised the place. How could she have not recognised it, it being what it was? It was SkyClan's camp, but without the cats in it. There was the leader's den, and there was the apprentices'. Over there was where the fresh-kill pile normally was, and, right behind it, was where she had crouched after putting mouse bile on her leader's food. Kestrelpaw blinked as memories poured into her mind like a waterfall pours water into the lake or stream below it. That was where she had said her first sentence that contained a rude word in it, in this case 'fox-dung'. In that corner there was where she had had her first punishment: no play for the rest of that day.

"Do you remember this place, then?" Tornado asked. His voice wasn't curious, but nor was it uninterested. It was more like he was waiting to evaluate her answer, and see if she had answered the question correctly or not.

Kestrelpaw snorted at the ridiculousness of the question. "Of course I remember it! I spent my entire life here!"

"Mmm," the tom nodded as if this was the answer he had expected, and was satisfied with it. "So, it seems the journey did not take away any memories like it does to some of those journeying here."

Before Kestrelpaw could ask exactly what the tom meant by that, and who had had their memories taken away, the tom plunged on. "So. You came here to ask me something. Or, more precisely, to _demand_ something of WeatherClan. What is it you would desire us to aid you in?"

Kestrelpaw got the feeling that he knew exactly what she wanted WeatherClan to do, but, like before, was simply waiting to see what kind of answer she gave, and if it was satisfactory. So she collected her thoughts, trying to determine the best, and least offensive, way to articulate her thoughts. "I came here after being told that I would be able to help save my Clan from the drought that, I later learned, you are most likely responsible for. Not you personally," she added quickly as the tom's expression darkened ever so slightly. "I mean WeatherClan. So... first, I want to know if it's possible for you to... no, scratch that. I want you to stop the drought. It's killing my Clanmates, and I can't see any good reason for it to happen."

Tornado paused before he spoke again, as if choosing his words carefully. "Kestrelpaw, you must understand that it was necessary. WeatherClan are often considered cruel, you know. Cruel, proud, hot-tempered, and far too easily offended. It's true, and all WeatherClan are aware of it. But may I also point out that your Clan numbered over twenty cats?"

Kestrelpaw shrugged, not seeing exactly the point in him saying that. "So?"

Tornado sighed heavily, then flicked his tail in a seemingly random direction. Almost immediately, a tom appeared next to Tornado, looking rather disgruntled at being called by the older tom. Then the new arrival noticed Kestrelpaw, and his expression cleared as understanding dawned upon him. Kestrelpaw stared confusedly from face to face, not sure of what the point of this was.

"Kestrelpaw, this is Tempest. He's one of the younger members of WeatherClan, but is already classified as one of those who obey the laws of fate, if you can say that fate has laws," Tornado added, looking faintly amused at the thought of fate having laws. Then he continued in a thoughtful voice. "WeatherClan has a very... mmm... complicated hierarchy. I suppose you could say that I am the leader, the top cat. It is more due to my experience and age than any talent I possess. But Tempest here... he possesses a talent for knowing when a cat is to die. Or join the ranks of StarClan, as you would say in your Clan. He can explain the reasons behind it better than I."

Tempest looked coldly at Kestrelpaw, and then spoke in icy tones. "Mere mortals such as you would find it cruel. However, we of WeatherClan understand better. You see, your Clan was getting too many cats. If we had allowed it to continue, many of them would have suffered far worse than they are suffering now. A Clan of forty or fifty in your camp? No, something had to be done. If there got to be too many, the prey would become scarce, as it is not plentiful enough to sustain such a large amount of healthy cats who eat a lot. So your Clan would have ruined the prey supply for moons to come."

"But isn't the drought killing the prey as well?" Kestrelpaw asked, feeling rather angry.

"Of course. But the prey is still there, and they will return far more quickly than if your Clan had hunted every living piece of prey from the area. Why do you think Clans never number more than about thirty? And even then... it is hard. Unless you have a bountiful amount of prey, which you don't, and a very large territory, which, again, you don't. And there were other reasons, too," the young tom said, glancing at Tornado as he spoke. The older tom nodded briefly, and Tempest continued. "You demand us to lift the drought. We refuse. Why? Because it is not yet time."

"Cats are dying! _Kits_ are dying! They are the next generation, and if you kill them then what of the rest of the Clan?" Kestrelpaw exclaimed hotly, her fur bristling.

"Your Clan will survive. It died out before, did it not? Yet it was created again. We will lift the drought when we feel that the balance is once again equal. Plus, it is character-building. Nobody ever survives such a thing without becoming changed," Tempest said in a dismissive voice, flicking his tail in an equally dismissive gesture, as if he really couldn't care less about the fate of Kestrelpaw's Clan.

Kestrelpaw growled angrily, unsheathing her claws in what she hoped was a threatening way, although the act only seemed to amuse the two toms. "I'm not going to let my Clan die! You're making innocent cats die, and all you can say is it's the _balance_! It's _fate_! I'll tell you what fate is! Fate isn't something to obey. _You_ can decide what to do, and therefore _you're_ decisions and actions are fate!"

"Simple child. Fate is something much larger than what your puny little mind can understand. I told Mistral that she made a bad choice, but would she listen? Oh no! 'You're only a kit, Tempest. Don't tell _me_ what to do! I'm the high-and-might Mistral and nobody can make me do anything I don't want to do'! She's too much!" Tempest hissed in irritation. He shot Kestrelpaw a last, angry glare, and then turned around and vanished. Kestrelpaw stared at the spot where the tom had been, faintly surprised. Then she turned her wrathful gaze upon Tornado.

"As I said, Tempest ascended to his rank because of his talents, not his temperament nor his wisdom. He has only recently become a WeatherClan cat, so it is not surprising that he has not yet learned to master his temper. Then again, we call him 'Tempest' for a reason," the tom remarked casually, as if nothing had happened that was in the least bit unexpected.

"Stop the drought and I'll leave you in peace!" Kestrelpaw bargained, knowing full well what the answer to that would be. Sure enough, the tom's next words proved her right.

"Hmm, you believe that you bother us in the slightest? You are sorely mistaken there. If we found you even the smallest bit irritating, we could very easily dispose of you. However... you have presented me with a most interesting path on which to take. You wish to bargain with us? -" the tom snorted at the idea - "Very well. If you like such things, we have a suggestion. You wish us to leave your Clan alone, no? Then I will tell you my proposal... if you can convince the Others to side with you and relinquish their sacred Star... then we will consider lifting the drought sooner. If you cannot... then we shall see what to do with you," the tom looked thoroughly pleased at the idea of the suggestion, and this made Kestrelpaw extremely wary. She didn't know if it was wise to trust one such as him. After all, he had said her companions were well, but he hadn't shown them to her. What if they were hurt? Injured? Or – dare she say it? – dead?

"I want to talk with my companions," said Kestrelpaw abruptly, although the tom didn't seem surprised in the slightest. Rather, he looked disappointed, as if he had wished she had agreed to the idea.

"Very well then. _Release those that are captured within our territory, deliver them unto me unharmed, and you shall dearly regret the day you set foot upon WeatherClan soil if I find a scratch upon them_," the tom said in a commanding voice. Kestrelpaw felt a shiver run down her spine as the last sentence echoed around the huge canyon that they now stood looking at. The way the tom had said them made her feel as if his commands were traveling a long way from where they stood, to the very heart of WeatherClan's territory.

Then a loud _pop_ and a _thud_ announced the arrival of about half dozen cats. Kestrelpaw whirled around in shock, and was relieved to see Coal, Harepaw, and Sparrowpaw land heavily on the hard ground. She noticed that the hare, sparrow, and kestrel were also there, and wondered why she hadn't noted their absence before. Four WeatherClan cats stood staring down at her three feline companions, and she recognised one as the she-cat that she had spoken to in her dreams: Mistral.

"That one there was giving us a bit of trouble," Mistral pointed her paw in the direction of Harepaw, who was sprawled upon the ground in a most inelegant way. "If he had been more co-operative, we might have been here sooner."

_Sooner? _Kestrelpaw thought. The six cats had arrived within about four or five seconds of the summons, she was certain. How much sooner did Mistral mean? Instantly, perhaps? Within a second of the calling? These WeatherClan cats were a strange bunch.

"Ah, Mistral. I was hoping you would be here. That young she-cat over there has been trying to bargain with me. She's been very annoying, really. As it's all your fault that she is even _here_, I think it might be best if you sorted out her punishment for not achieving what I have set out for her to do," the tom complained to the she-cat, who looked icily in Kestrelpaw's direction. What was it that all these cats here had against Kestrelpaw, anyway? It wasn't as if she had done anything to offend them. Kestrelpaw resolved to find out the answer to that _after_ she had seen the drought safely lifted from her Clan.

"Fine. Your punishment for failing to achieve what was desired of you, after you have struck a bargain, is to spend the rest of your life isolated in WeatherClan territory, without any contact from even the least important cat. You may hunt and care for yourself, but nothing more. And then we'll make sure that you will never be able to go to StarClan. Oh, yes. We can arrange that, Kestrelpaw. StarClan may be powerful, but we can still ensure that you never die. If you don't die, then how do you expect to go to StarClan? That is the traditional punishment for those who break their side of the bargain," Mistral's voice betrayed no emotion on her part, but Kestrelpaw noticed that the kestrel had begun to flutter nervously at the thought of the punishment, and her companions were glaring at the WeatherClan she-cat with open hostility.

"But that's just unfair!" Harepaw blurted out angrily, his whiskers quivering at the outrageous proposal. Kestrelpaw fought back a laugh, despite the dire circumstances. Watching Harepaw's whiskers quiver was really quite funny, but she managed to keep a composed face.

"First, you tell us who these... _Others_ are, and then we'll see," Kestrelpaw said sharply, not willing to let the bargain go until she was sure it was a near impossible task that she was asked to accomplish.

"No, first you agree to the idea," Mistral argued strongly, refusing to allow Kestrelpaw and her companions even the slightest clue as to what they were up against.

"Either you tell us who these 'Others' are, or I will personally ensure that my entire Clan will know about what you have done and I will make sure that they will pester you every step of the way, even if I have to force them to do it. And, not only that, but I will _make sure_ that you never forget this," Kestrelpaw said furiously. She didn't know exactly why she was saying what she said, as Coal's story about WeatherClan implied that it would benefit cats to know about WeatherClan, but she somehow sensed that by saying what she said, she would gain an advantage of sorts.

Absolute silence greeted her words. Her companions looked nervously at each other, not sure what Kestrelpaw had said, but feeling pretty sure that it had not been good. The WeatherClan cats looked at each other in something akin to shock and – was Kestrelpaw imagining it? – fear? Or was it something else? The hare, sparrow, and kestrel glanced at each other as if almost enjoying her words, whilst still looking fearful at the prospect she had presented them with. They knew something that she didn't, of this Kestrelpaw was certain. And, after this was over, she was determined to find out what.

Then a she-cat that Kestrelpaw didn't know spoke up. "We must heed her words, Leader. WeatherClan has not benefited in this past from this kind of 'bargain', as you call it. Do you not remember the time we tried to recruit the half-Clan? -" the mention of this incident brought many nods of agreement - "It did not benefit us. Nor will this benefit us. No. If we are ever to regain our precious Star, then we must think of another way of doing this. Tell these young ones of the Others and their history, and perhaps they will know a way for us to regain our Star."

Kestrelpaw turned to regard the she-cat with curiosity, wondering why this she-cat had chosen to speak up suddenly, considering that there had been plenty of opportunities before to speak. She wondered vaguely if it had anything to do with Kestrelpaw's threat, but decided against it. She was a, to put it bluntly, puny mortal being who had no powers. Rather, Kestrelpaw felt that the she-cat had been carefully judging what to say and when to say it. The she-cat seemed not to notice Kestrelpaw's scrutiny, or, if she had noticed, didn't seem to be bothered by it.

Kestrelpaw would have been perfectly truthful in saying that this she-cat wasn't like the other WeatherClan cats that she had seen so far. For a start, the she-cat was a startling white colour, unlike the darker coats of all the other WeatherClan cats that Kestrelpaw had seen. The WeatherClan she-cat also possessed features that were the usual length for a cat, with the exception of her teeth, which were more pointed and fang-like than she had ever seen in a cat. In fact, they were positively menacing when the she-cat opened her mouth, although it wasn't visible when she had her mouth closed. Kestrelpaw couldn't fathom why this was so, as the teeth surely had to be too big for the she-cat's mouth. The teeth were as white as the she-cat, which Kestrelpaw felt was a little unreal. Nobody had teeth that there was the matter of the she-cat's eyes, which were a bright blue colour that contrasted strikingly with the whiteness of the rest of the she-cat. The eyes alone were enough to make Kestrelpaw feel as though this she-cat was far more than she appeared to be at first glance. All in all, Kestrelpaw decided, this was someone who was far more dangerous than any of the other WeatherClan cats that she had so far met, even Tornado.

"You speak the truth, Celeste," another one of the cats who had arrived with Kestrelpaw's companions piped up. Judging from appearances, this one was the youngest there, even including the SkyClan cats and Coal. In fact, Kestrelpaw wouldn't have had any trouble believing that the tom who had spoken was little more than an older kit, or a young apprentice.

"Shut up," said the yet another cat. This one was another she-cat, perhaps the age of a young warrior by the looks of it. Her brown eyes were filled with irritation and no little amount of impatience as she said bluntly. "You _always_ say Celeste speaks the truth. However, I do believe that she is right this time. Tornado, tell these younglings -" Harepaw sniffed at the implied insult, believing that to be called young by _this_ cat was basically being called a kit - "of the Others."

"Silence," Tornado said commandingly, as the youngest tom opened his mouth to make a sharp retort. The young tom immediately fell silent at his elder's words, and looked furiously at the ground, partly in anger and partly in embarrassment for having been reprimanded by his leader in front of everyone. Tornado gazed majestically around at the gathered cats, and then said in an authoritative tone. "I agree that it may have been a little... ahem... unwise for me to send four youngsters off without an explanation as to what they may have been facing."

So saying, he turned towards where Kestrelpaw and her companions were staring at him in evident confusion and irritation, and said in what Kestrelpaw could only call a very snooty tone. "Many moons ago, your beloved Firestar in StarClan made a mistake. He created a cat from scratch, a small she-cat that, according to my sources, looked relatively harmless. Until, that is, a cat from StarClan tried to pick her up, and she drew blood from the StarClan cat. No SkyClan cat has ever been bothered by this, for it was not their duty to know about it, and, once they were in StarClan, it was not their duty to interfere.

This small she-cat, daughter of Firestar in StarClan and a certain Brownfur of ThunderClan, was taken to a place known to living cats as The Place of the Exiled, where those who are too dangerous to be free are kept. Her mother was exiled with her, unfair as it may seem. Brownfur's daughter was named after her. Brownkit. Brownkit, being the daughter of a dead cat and a living one possessed certain... powers. She grew to become leader of a group called the Others, when she was only about your age, Kestrelpaw.

At about the time the Others began to become the most powerful group in all the Place of the Exiled, a group of apprentices and warriors ventured into the place, on a mission from StarClan, or so they have said. These cats helped Brownkit, then known as Brownpaw, to defeat Light, an incredibly powerful cat. The oldest cat in the Place of the Exiled, too. A few of the Others chose to come with the group of apprentices and warriors, with permission from StarClan.

Shortly after the defeat of Light, Brownpaw was made a 'warrior'. She took on the name Brownshadow. It is believed by many of those that live upon the earth, those who know of the Place of the Exiled, that she had a kit... but those are rumours. Another theory is that she rules still, despite the fact that she would indeed be very old by now if this were true."

"There you are. That is what the Others are and that is their history. Now, do you wish to take such a risk to save many of your Clanmates from death, or do you wish to journey back to your Clan?" Celeste spoke clearly, her voice seeming to echo, creating an odd, eerie feeling.

"Wait. You haven't told us what this 'Star' is. Or how to get it," Harepaw argued stubbornly, talking over the top of Kestrelpaw's acceptance of the task, so that the she-cat's voice was rendered unintelligible.

"The Others have taken that which was rightfully ours. We wish for our Star to be returned to us, for here in WeatherClan is where our Star belongs," Mistral said, eyeing Harepaw with obvious dislike.

Harepaw hissed with frustration. "I asked what this 'Star' of yours _is_ and how to _get_ it. Not more explanation of who is in the right and wrong."

"Our Star is something very precious to us, for within the Star is an immense power never before seen among us. For the Others to have possession of it is dangerous indeed, for they are without mercy. Once long ago, we were had such a Star, although known by a different name then. That Star was lost by our ancestors, and the balance of the world was put in danger by our ancestors' mistakes that day. No longer will we allow for the Others to have such power over the world. No. We must regain the Star, and, by doing so, we will effectively save the world.

To regain the Star you will have to become accepted in the world of the Place of the Exiled, and therefore the Others. You must earn what little trust they ever give, and you must fight to keep it. If you should fail, death will be imminent, for they do not tolerate traitors amongst them. They know well the power of the Star, and wish to prevent us from having it, so –"

"I don't have time for this," Harepaw interrupted Mistral's long-drawn out explanation. He turned to look at his companions, totally ignoring the WeatherClan cats and their disgruntled and angry looks at his rude interruption of one of their kind. "Kestrelpaw, you have somehow, I don't know how, become the spokescat or whatever for this group... so it's up to you. From what I understand, it's only you that will end up in this eternal isolation. We -" he indicated Sparrowpaw, Coal and himself - "can back out whenever we want, I reckon. So, decide."

Kestrelpaw glared at the tom, and then subsided into mutterings. What should she do? If she refused to try and regain this 'Star' that the WeatherClan cats seemed so fond of, she could return to her Clan and watch them die until WeatherClan decided that it was an appropriate time for the drought to stop. They might be made angry by her refusal, and so make the drought longer than necessary. On the other paw, if she accepted, she would have to journey to a ridiculously named place to become one with a whole lot of cats who seemed to have little room in their hearts for mercy, and to face almost certain death should they discover that she was not sincere in her wishes to join their group. However, if she somehow succeeded in the quest given, then her Clanmates, those that remained alive, would have the drought lifted and she would return in triumph. If she failed, at least she would have tried, and though to spend eternal isolation was a dismal thought... very dismal... no contact with _anyone_... no knowledge of what was happening to her Clanmates... no nothing... it was still better than going back to the Clan and watching all her friends and family die. At least she would have tried. Kestrelpaw's mind jumped back and forth between the choices as the other cats looked at her expectantly. Finally, she knew what she would do. It was the only choice that she could make without forever regretting it afterwards, thinking on who would have lived if she hadn't done this or that. Well, not the only... but the most obvious. And she _was_ curious as to what was so important that WeatherClan cats couldn't go and retrieve it themselves.

"I'm going. I accept your... um... proposal," Kestrelpaw said finally, and received looks of shock from her brother and Coal. Strangely enough, it was Harepaw who gave her a look of approval, as if this was exactly what he would have done in her place.

"Kestrelpaw, you're an idiot," Sparrowpaw said with firm conviction. "Squirrelpaw would -" he stopped, pain in his eyes as he recalled the death of the apprentice. Sparrowpaw lowered his head and gazed at his paws awkwardly, and refused to say anything more on the subject. Kestrelpaw felt a momentary stab of shame. She had all but forgotten about Squirrelpaw since stepping foot upon WeatherClan territory. There had been so much to occupy her mind that it only now occurred to her that what her brother must be feeling was ten times worse than what she herself was feeling. After all, Sparrowpaw had been the one who was closer to Squirrelpaw, and he had also been the one who had had to experience first-hand the difficulties of the aftermath of Squirrelpaw's death. Kestrelpaw at least had had her companions and, though she hated to admit it, the fact that she had viewed Squirrelpaw's death whilst asleep had added an unreal edge to what would ordinarily have been a very painful and shocking experience for her. Then Kestrelpaw banished all thoughts of Squirrelpaw from her mind. She had to focus on other things. Kestrelpaw felt a vague worry over the fact that Squirrelpaw's death had affected her so little. Was she shallow? Kestrelpaw hoped not. Maybe it was just because too much was happening. Squirrelpaw being dead seemed rather as if it was some kind of mistake or vision, rather than a solid fact, especially since her companions had come and the mission explained properly. Or as proper as it was likely to get.

"You don't expect them to journey all the way to the Place of the Exiled by themselves, do you, Tornado?" said the young she-cat that had rather rudely told the youngest tom to be quiet. Not for the first time that day, Kestrelpaw was troubled by the feeling that the cat before her was familiar. It was rather like the way she had felt when she had first seen most of the other WeatherClan cats. Only this time the feeling was enhanced. It was a similar feeling to what she had experienced when she had first seen Mistral, like she should know very well who this cat was, but memory eluded her grasp again.

"And what is wrong with that?" Tornado's eyes flashed dangerously, and Kestrelpaw noticed that the young tom who had only recently been at odds with the warrior-aged she-cat was now shooting her warning looks, as if trying desperately to tell her not to continue her line of thought. Kestrelpaw looked from the young she-cat to the apprentice-age tom and back again. There was something here she was missing, of that she was sure.

"That's irresponsible, Tornado," the young she-cat continued on, regardless of her companion's warning looks. Mistral and Celeste gazed at the other she-cat impassively, not seeming anywhere near as concerned for the young she-cat's well-being as the young tom was.

"You dare to tell me that I act irresponsibly, Clement? I may have spared you from your fate as one upon the ground, but that does not give you right to act disrespectfully towards me, newcomer?" Tornado thundered furiously, and the young tom winced, shrinking back into the shadowy landscape that now surrounded them. Unfortunately, the shadows that surrounded them did not last for long, and the land around them shortly turned bright and sunny, rendering the young tom visible to all.

Kestrelpaw and her companions decided to adopt the young tom's idea, and shrank away from the argument that seemed imminent. Only Mistral and Celeste remained where they were, not showing any signs of apprehension whatsoever as their leader glowered down at the reckless Clement.

"I dare, Tornado," as the she-cat spoke defiantly to her leader, Kestrelpaw noticed something else. She was pretty sure this she-cat was the only one who had called Tornado by his name, in Kestrelpaw's hearing at least. The others seemed not to call Tornado by any name at all, and, if necessary, she had only ever heard him referred to by the other cats as 'Leader'. Kestrelpaw looked at the young she-cat, Clement, with new interest.

Tornado scowled angrily down at Clement, his whiskers quivering with barely suppressed rage. "You go too far, Clement. To challenge the word of the leader is breaking the code of the warrior. We may not follow the warrior code as strictly as those upon the ground, but among the WeatherClan cats, as you should know, to do as you have done should result in immediate and dire consequences for you."

Clement continued to gaze at her leader unflinchingly, although even Mistral had begun to look slightly agitated at the young cat's manner. Celeste, however, merely appeared amused. Clement's eyes hardened as Kestrelpaw watched, and the WeatherClan she-cat said in a frosty voice. "You wouldn't have the nerve to do that, Tornado, and you know it. Fate has decreed a different path for me, and to interfere with that would mean forfeiting your position. I may be new to WeatherClan, but I am not as unintelligent as you presume me to be. I demand that you send these cats to the Place of the Exiled as soon as their quest officially starts... or else I will see to it that those that obey Fate know what you have done."

Tornado's eyes revealed momentary shock at the words of the young she-cat. Then he quickly recovered his poise, and glared at Clement one last time. "I will not forget this, Clement," then he turned to the others. "Very well then. You shall be sent on to the Place of the Exiled immediately. You have a time limit of eight moons. That should be plenty of time. If you need assistance from one of our number, then know that you have the ability to call us, although the chances of us answering are slim. Now go."

Kestrelpaw's last emotions were extreme irritation that she was being disposed of so quickly once again, mingled with a strong feeling of apprehension at the mention of the time limit, the thought of which quickly caused anger to follow afterwards. She hated being used like this. So what if she had agreed to the mission? Tornado had never mentioned a time limit. Kestrelpaw vowed that she would get him back for this one day, although she wasn't quite sure how she expected to be able to do that. Then the world around her became what was now a familiar mix of dazzling colours, before changing to a shade of black that was blacker than any she had ever known.

And then she was in a forest.


	16. The Others

**OMG! Only a few more days left till the year 2011! Not tomorrow, and not the next day, but the next day after that! At least, that's the date at the time of my writing this chapter. Golly. It seems like only yesterday that I was moaning about it being 2010, sitting up and waiting expectantly on the 31st to greet the New Year. Now I'll be sitting up and waiting ( unless I'm too tired ) for the year 2011. Ah... how time flies ( such a cliche ).**

The Others

Kestrelpaw let out a squeak of fright as a shadow rushed menacingly towards her in the dark, and jerked back just in time to avoid being thwacked in the face by a slender branch. Ahead of her, she heard Harepaw snigger. Kestrelpaw was almost certain that it was his fault that the branch had nearly hit her. He had probably made sure it didn't swing back in place after he had passed it, and then released it once he knew she was coming. Grrr. Honestly, one day she would make him pay for all that he done to her.

"Jumping at shadows, are we?" Harepaw snickered, and Kestrelpaw could just make out the faint shadow of her companion in the darkness of the forest.

Kestrelpaw opened her mouth to deliver an angry reply to the taunt, but was beaten to it by Coal, who said sharply. "Be quiet, Harepaw! You shouldn't do that sort of thing, you know. If Kestrelpaw hadn't seen it as quickly as she had, she might have lost an eye."

Harepaw rolled his eyes in apparent amazement at the stupidity of the other tom. "Yeah, and I'm Firestar."

Kestrelpaw opened her mouth to agree with Coal's comment about how Harepaw should take things more seriously, and had almost managed to form the first word of the scathingly sharp remark that she was preparing herself for. Then Coal interrupted her not-yet-formed sentence to say scoldingly. "I'm serious Harepaw. If the branch had been a bit higher, and you had let it go a bit later, then Kestrelpaw might have been blinded for life. You wouldn't like that on your conscience, would you?"

"You know what?" Harepaw said in a seemingly casual voice, but Kestrelpaw knew him well enough by now to know that he was sorely tempted to launch into attack mode. "I think you're beginning to sound a little too much like my father. 'Don't do that! Serious consequences, Harepaw! You wouldn't like that on your conscience, now would you, Harepaw?'. He drove me mad with all his 'do's and 'don't's. Whitepaw didn't mind too much, but then Whitepaw's as crazy as him."

Unexpectedly, Sparrowpaw laughed. Kestrelpaw and Coal turned to look at the tom in surprise, as he had not, until now, uttered more than one or two words, despite the fact that they had to have been in the Place of the Exiled for two weeks, if not more. Kestrelpaw noted with irritation that the Others were taking a long time to find them. Already they had been attacked by vicious cats that seemed to take the fact that Kestrelpaw and her companions hadn't initiated any attacks for signs of over-confidence on the travelers' parts. Also, Kestrelpaw thought the attackers extremely ungrateful in that they did not even say 'thank you' when she and her companions had let them get away with no more than a few deep wounds. Nothing fatal. The brown apprentice glanced at her flank with mild annoyance. In the latest fight, only two days before, she had received a rather nasty wound from an aggressive she-cat who had yelled out something about the companions being on her 'territory', only to have been chased off her own territory by another cat who claimed it to be _his_ territory. Kestrelpaw shook her head in puzzlement.

The companions traveled in silence for the next hour, aimlessly wandering around the forest in the hope of receiving some attention from the Others, who seemed determined to avoid them. Kestrelpaw couldn't honestly blame the Others for not wanting to show themselves. Who in StarClan's name would want somebody like Harepaw in their Clan was beyond her. All he ever seemed to do was complain, irritate, complain, snore, complain, taunt, and complain some more. In fact, he was an utter _joy_ to be with when traveling, Kestrelpaw thought, with heavy sarcasm.

As if reading her mind, Harepaw chose this moment to break the silence with a complaining voice. "I'm tired. And hungry. And I haven't a clue where we're going."

Kestrelpaw decided to tolerate his words for the moment, instead comforting herself with visions of how, when they were safely back in StarClan, she would make his life miserable. Perhaps it might be a good idea to lose him here in the Place of the Exiled, though, Kestrelpaw thought dreamily. Then a sharp pain from her injured flank brought her out of a pleasing daydream in which Harepaw was sitting in the middle of a dark forest, moaning and complaining, the picture of misery, and wishing that he had been a bit more respectful to Kestrelpaw. She had just got past the part where he prayed to WeatherClan, and StarClan, to send Kestrelpaw back to lead him out of the horrible place. The pain had just stopped her dream-self from informing her imagined Harepaw, through messengers from WeatherClan and StarClan, that she wouldn't dream of taking him away. As it was, the pain in her flank brought her back to reality, and she blinked several times to clear her mind.

"I wish I hadn't gone on this stupid journey to this idiotic place, in the company of lunatic cats, led by a deranged she-cat," Harepaw muttered resentfully, leaping over a fallen tree with such ease that Kestrelpaw was momentarily distracted by the thought of making the fallen log a dozen times bigger so that he would land face first on the wood. It just wasn't fair that he should be so good at getting around the forest. Not even the wound on his front left leg seemed to be stopping him from easily walking around the place. Kestrelpaw thought venomous thoughts for a few pleasant seconds, before realising that he had, indeed, insulted her once again.

"If you want to -" Kestrelpaw stopped for a moment so that she could clear the fallen log herself, and then resumed her speech. "If you want to, you can just sit here and tell WeatherClan that you want to come back. I assure you that I would feel much lighter of heart if you did so."

Harepaw flicked his tail dismissively at Kestrelpaw before replying solemnly. "The feeling is mutual, mouse dirt. However, I am doing this for my Clan, and not for my own comfort."

"How _noble_ of you," Kestrelpaw couldn't resist saying, and was rewarded with a disappointed look from Coal, and an annoyed look from her brother. She ignored them, instead concentrating on sidestepping a dead rat that stunk horribly, causing her to wrinkle her nose as she passed it by.

"I'm glad you finally see my worth," Harepaw said, without missing a beat.

"I was being sarcastic, fox-dung," Kestrelpaw retorted irritably, and Coal sighed resignedly behind her. He had long since realised that once Kestrelpaw and Harepaw got started, it was hard to stop them insulting each other as much as they possibly could. It was really very childish, he thought with mild annoyance. Why couldn't Kestrelpaw behave like her younger brother, for once?

"I thought you two were getting on better, you know," Sparrowpaw piped up suddenly. Then he added, almost as if it was an afterthought: "After apologising to each other for being rude and irritating to one another, I thought I'd finally have some peace. I see that things haven't changed much since I left you three. It's disappointing, you know."

"I don't give a whisker about what you think," Harepaw said instantly, as if he had expected Sparrowpaw to say this from the start. It didn't take genius to realise that Harepaw meant exactly what he had just said, and Sparrowpaw fell silent. Kestrelpaw didn't say anything in reply to her brother's criticism, as she didn't have anything to say. What on earth was she supposed to say to that, without apologising to Harepaw or acknowledging that her brother was right? And she knew that Sparrowpaw was right. He had always been the more sensible than her, and now was no exception. This irked her, for some reason that she couldn't satisfactorily explain.

The companions walked on in uncomfortable silence for another hour, during which Kestrelpaw began to reminisce about her life in the SkyClan camp, remembering with especial fondness the time when she had put mouse bile on Harepaw's food, although this was tinged with a slight sadness at the fact that she had also put the same ingredient on her leader's food. Nevertheless, it had been one of her more brilliant, in her opinion, ideas. Kestrelpaw wondered why she couldn't be so light-hearted any more. In her own eyes, at least, she had become far too serious and sharp. It must be some drawback that the elders' had failed to mention when detailing the great adventures of SkyClan cats past.

She was idly wondering whether it might be a good idea to stop and rest for a while when a sudden rustle of leaves on her right made her pause. For a split second, Kestrelpaw's mind was caught unawares. She had thought they were alone. All the other cats they had met whilst journeying through this place had made loud, threatening noises, and, in her opinion, loud, rather stupid threats. Then Kestrelpaw whirled around to face the noise, her fur bristling and her lips drawn back in a menacing snarl that was worthy of Harepaw. Her companions glanced at their bristling friend, and immediately went on the offensive, too. They had learned from experience that any stranger encountered her was to be met with hostility.

They didn't have to wait long to find out who had dared to rustle leaves in their presence. From out the bushes emerged a black she-cat with startling dark red patches and piercing blue eyes, her fur bristling slightly. Behind her emerged two golden brown toms and another she-cat, all regarding the newcomers with caution and no little hint of anger. The two toms were so similar that they had to be brothers, the only difference between them being that one had brown eyes and another had green eyes. The she-cat that followed them was as black as the shadows that surrounded her, her head lowered as if preparing to charge the intruders.

Without any hesitation, the four new cats leaped towards Kestrelpaw and her companions, snarling and with claws unsheathed. Kestrelpaw had no choice but to fight the black and red she-cat, who seemed to be the leader, as the she-cat had landed on top of the brown apprentice. Kestrelpaw felt sharp claws dig into her sides, and let out an exclamation of pain as the claws dug into her already wounded side. Then she rolled over to try and rid herself of the she-cat. Before Kestrelpaw's opponent could be squashed, however, the black and red she-cat leapt nimbly away and stared hard at the brown apprentice. Swiftly, the older she-cat charged at Kestrelpaw, leaping lightly over the brown apprentice's back, and then slashing at Kestrelpaw's unwounded side before the younger she-cat had a chance to attack.

Kestrelpaw was about to leap onto her opponent's back, teeth bared in what she hoped looked to be a frightening snarl, when she realised that her opponent was no longer there. She paused in confusion, and looked around at the other fighting cats to see if her opponent had disappeared there. To her surprise, her companions were staring around in an equally confused manner. Then Kestrelpaw's eyes found the attackers, all of them standing calmly some distance away, one of the toms and the black she-cat only visible by their shapes. The she-cat that Kestrelpaw had fought, and the other tom, were standing a few feet away from Kestrelpaw, calmly regarding the brown apprentice and her companions as if the fight had never happened.

"Why have you sought out the territory of the Others?" the black and red she-cat demanded, her blue eyes darting from Kestrelpaw to Harepaw to Sparrowpaw to Coal, and then back to Kestrelpaw again. "Who is your leader?"

The four companions remained silent at first, unsure of what to answer to that. Then Coal flicked his tail in Kestrelpaw's direction, much to her annoyance. She didn't want the responsibility of having to talk to strange and hostile cats. Anyway, Coal was a much better leader than she was. Kestrelpaw opened her mouth to say this, but Coal interrupted her. "Kestrelpaw over there is our leader."

The black and red she-cat's eyes studied the brown apprentice in mild surprise. "She is young for such responsibility."

"Nevertheless, it was her that led us here. Why did you stop attacking us?" Coal said.

"You are obviously not from the Place of the Exiled. If you had been here, you would have attacked us with much more ferocity. Cats do come here for a reason, you know. Even those born here are more fierce than you lot," the she-cat said, eyeing the four companions with suspicion. "What is it that you require of the Others?"

"Why do you think we require something of y-" Harepaw began, but Kestrelpaw gave him her best 'shut-up' look, and he fell silent with an angry glare.

"We come here to ask to join the Others," Kestrelpaw stated without hesitation. Her companions looked uneasily at one another, all sure that this was not the best way for her to tell the black and red she-cat of her intentions.

"They cannot be serious!" one of the toms, the one with green eyes, exclaimed in disbelief.

The other tom looked at the one who had spoken in irritation. "Let Leopard continue with her interrogation, Eagle. You are not the second-in-command."

The black and red she-cat, Leopard, seemed to be caught halfway between anger and amusement. She seemed to struggle for a moment to say something, as if weighing all the different answers that she could give to Kestrelpaw's request. Then she laughed suddenly. It was an odd sound in the dark and silent forest, and the other cats who had come with Leopard seemed to find the sound discomforting. The black she-cat behind Leopard leaned forward to say something in Leopard's ear. Leopard nodded in acknowledgement of her companion's words, whatever they were, and looked carefully at the four companions.

"Why do you wish to join the Others? Once you pledge allegiance to us, you are bound for life," Leopard informed the four cats in front of her seriously. Kestrelpaw cast an uneasy glance at her companions. WeatherClan had not mentioned this.

Without waiting for an answer, Leopard continued. "Not only that, but those who betray us will... ahem... be lost to this world for a very long time, if not forever."

This revelation did nothing to comfort Kestrelpaw and her companions in the slightest. Rather, it only served to make Harepaw stare thorns at Kestrelpaw. His expression was only too clear. It meant, to put it politely, 'If I ever get out of this alive, you will regret dearly the day you met me'. Kestrelpaw decided to ignore this, as it was not helping her think through matters at all. Instead, she focused her gaze on the black and red she-cat. She would have to think quickly. Kestrelpaw knew what she should do, of course. She should be willing to do anything for her Clan, including join an unknown and most likely threatening group of cats, pledging her allegiance to them on the way, and be killed when they realised that she had betrayed them. Taking their 'Star' would almost certainly count as betraying them. But, she reminded herself, she was not yet a warrior, and had therefore not promised to give her life for her Clan. However, if she refused to join the Others, she would be stuck in WeatherClan's ever-changing territory for... well... forever. Without any contact from the outside world. Kestrelpaw's mind whirled frantically as she weighed the choices she had left.

If she hesitated too much longer, she would not be able to get the nerve up to join the Others. If she joined the Others, she would be as good as sacrificing her life. Unconsciously, Kestrelpaw's nose wrinkled. She had never been the life-sacrificing-for-sake-of-others type of cat. Yes, she had wanted adventure. Yes, she wanted to be a hero. Yes, she wanted to be remembered for generations to come. But did she want to be remembered for generations as the heroine who had gone on an adventure and given her life for her Clan? Kestrelpaw was momentarily distracted by the idea. It had a nice ring to it. Then she forced herself back to the choices that she had at this moment. No matter how grand it sounded, she was not willing to be remembered by all others as the one who had died. Much more willing was she to be remembered as the one who had lived and saved the day. Kestrelpaw sighed at the choice.

On the other paw, there was the fact that, as she deliberated, she was losing valuable time to save her Clanmates. Cats that she had known her entire life were dying as she was trying to choose between an unselfish act and a selfish one. Kestrelpaw was momentarily sickened at herself. How _could_ she, even for a moment, think about not saving her Clanmates? None of the heroes and heroines in the stories that the elders' told had ever hesitated in doing what they knew, or thought, to be right. Kestrelpaw was aware of her companions' gazes upon her, as well as the cats of the Others. Oh, for StarClan's sake! Why was she landed with such horrible choices! Grrr... when she was out of this place, she would have a serious talking to with that Tornado. He needed to be more considerate when it came to giving cats life-or-death choices. The thought of herself yelling at Tornado cheered her up a little, and she decided on what choice she would make. There really had been no other choice left, unless she wanted to be called a coward and extremely selfish in all the future stories that the elders' told, which she most certainly did _not_.

"I still want to join," Kestrelpaw persisted, much to the shock of the other cats, the Place of the Exiled cats included. When she saw the look on her companions' faces, she added hastily. "But I'm speaking for myself only. My companions' lives are their own."

The black and red she-cat glanced back at her own companions, as if asking them something, and then turned back to the brown apprentice with a slightly pleased look on her face. "Well spoken, for one as young as yourself. Is this what you truly wish?"

"Of course," Kestrelpaw was surprised at the transparent honesty in her voice. She couldn't believe that she was really speaking the truth. Who would wish to join the Others, a group of rogue cats who liked killing other cats? Then again, she reminded herself, she was doing this for her Clan. This thought made her feel rather proud of herself. There weren't many things in her life that she had done solely for her Clan. Not even journeying away from SkyClan's camp had been solely for her Clan's good. It had been influenced also by her desire to have an adventure, not to mention the fact that she had wanted to escape from the monotonous camp life.

"What of the others of your... group?" Leopard asked, addressing Kestrelpaw.

"They speak for themselves," Kestrelpaw replied with an almost comical gravity.

Her companions seemed to be hesitating almost as much as she had. They were constantly glancing at each other and Kestrelpaw, and then at their paws. Harepaw's tail lashed back and forth in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness as he contemplated his choices. Sparrowpaw's ears flicked forwards and backwards, and his whiskers twitched at the thought of what would happen to him if he joined, but also at what would happen to him if he refused. Coal's only outward sign of the struggle he was making to decide what to do was an occasional twitch of his tail. Kestrelpaw knew that Coal probably was wondering why he should risk his life for a Clan that was not only not his, but also that contained three cats that he actually knew of. She wouldn't blame him if he decided to walk away now.

"I'm joining," Harepaw said, after what had seemed like hours to Kestrelpaw, but was in reality only a few minutes. Kestrelpaw didn't show any outward sign of surprise at Harepaw deciding to join the Others. She had become resigned to the fact that she would be unable to get rid of him. Whenever she made a difficult decision to go one way or another, he always persisted in following her. Maybe one day she would go somewhere where only she-cats were allowed to go. Kestrelpaw shrugged off the stupid thought. There was no such place.

There was a long moment of silence, during which Kestrelpaw gazed at her paws uncomfortably. She hated the thought of either Coal or her brother joining the Others. It was bad enough that she would have to be responsible for Harepaw's death, but two other cats would be too much. Especially considering the fact that she actually liked them, which was more than she could say for Harepaw.

Coal hesitated before he spoke, as if ensuring that he was making what he thought to be the right choice. "If you two are joining, then I'll join, too. After all, if I wasn't there, who would stop you two from clawing at each others' necks the whole time?" his weak attempt at a joke made Kestrelpaw feel worse than she already felt. Now she would be responsible for the life of a cat that was a good friend to her. She dared not look at her brother, knowing that he was going to join as well. After all, Sparrowpaw had always been the one to do the good thing, the right thing, the thing that was best for the Clan.

As the silence stretched on, Kestrelpaw sneaked a look at her brother. The white and black tom was staring awkwardly at the ground. He was probably remembering Squirrelpaw's death, she realised. And wondering whether any of them would die again for their Clan. Sparrowpaw's tail gave a faint flick as he continued to stare at the hard, dusty ground that was strewn with fallen leaves. Kestrelpaw saw her brother open his mouth to say something, and then close it again. Kestrelpaw wondered why he was taking so long to decide. The choice was obvious to her. Why was he taking so long?

And then it hit her, as if a Two-leg had thrown a sharp rock at her stomach. It wasn't deciding what to do that was taking so long. He had already decided. No, it was actually _saying_ his choice out loud that he was having trouble doing. Sparrowpaw had made his choice. He had probably made his choice the moment he heard the conditions for joining the Others. And Kestrelpaw felt sick at the thought of her brother's decision. He, who had always preached to her about doing whatever was right for the Clan. He, who had constantly reminded her that it took more than a good sense of fun to make a hero. He, who had always been the model kit, and the model apprentice, who had always done what was right. Here he was, abandoning the need of his Clan. Allowing other cats to die because he didn't dare do what he, in his heart, knew was necessary. Kestrelpaw knew that what she had decided to do was the 'right' choice, or at least the one that meant that she would have tried to save her Clanmates.

Yet still Kestrelpaw hoped that she was wrong. She argued with herself, even as she saw both Coal and Harepaw realise what Sparrowpaw's decision was. She protested even as she saw the cats from the Others look at each other with eyes that told of their knowledge of Sparrowpaw's choice. Kestrelpaw was still frantically trying to tell herself that she was wrong even when Sparrowpaw opened his mouth to say the inevitable.

"No. I won't join," Kestrelpaw heard the words come out of her brother's mouth and felt her hopes plummet as suddenly as a shooting star that she had seen once had shot across the sky. And with the fall of her hopes, she felt a new emotion. Anger. How dare he continually preach to her about how they should do anything they could for their Clan, and then decide that no, his life was far too precious to risk for their Clan. However, Kestrelpaw was wise enough not to let her anger show too much, not in the presence of strangers. Instead, she turned eyes that were an uncharacteristic icy cold on her brother. Usually, Kestrelpaw's angers were red hot and over quite quickly. But this time she knew, as did her companions, that she wouldn't be forgetting this. Not ever. This would be something that she would remember for all time, and one that she would, most likely, still be angry about moons afterwards.

"So be it. Then leave, Sparrowpaw. We have no further use for you," Kestrelpaw spoke the words frostily, her eyes colder than the snow that fell in leaf-bare. Little did she know it, but the cats from the Others were looking at her with surprise and even the barest trace of admiration. If she had known it, she would have been disgusted and would have tried to discover why they were looking at her like they were. However, she did not notice it, and therefore did not bother to wonder at why she was being stared at by strange cats.

Sparrowpaw blinked at his sister in amazement, and then narrowed his eyes at her. "You know this isn't the right way, Kestrelpaw. We aren't going to achieve anything by joining _them_. I didn't know it when I decided to come here, but I know it now. One day you will realise what a mistake you made, Kestrelpaw. I hope that that day does not come too soon."

"Go, Sparrowpaw. Now," Kestrelpaw hissed, her eyes sparking with that new, icy anger that she had never experienced before today.

Sparrowpaw looked at the brown apprentice that he had known all his life, and felt nothing but contempt and disappointment. "You are a fool."

Harepaw bristled at the insult, as Sparrowpaw had also insinuated that the others who joined the rogue group were also fools. If there was anything that Harepaw couldn't stand, it was being made fun of by others. True, Kestrelpaw did it on a daily basis, but that was different. They had been making fun of each other since the moment Kestrelpaw had first been able to voice insults. Being insulted by anybody other than Kestrelpaw was too much for Harepaw.

"Traitor!" he exploded, for lack of a better word to express his feelings. "Fox dung! Mouse brain! Mouse _dirt_! Crow food!" the words shot out of his mouth as quickly as he could think them up. Then, feeling a need for a dramatic sentence that would not only express his feelings, but also hopefully hurt Sparrowpaw's, he burst out. "You can be sure that I'll never forget this, you... you... you... pathetic excuse for a cat! I'll make sure that every cat in SkyClan knows of how you stepped away at the last minute, of how you would have willingly allowed your Clanmates to _die_ because of your cowardice. I'll never forgive you. Coward!" he added for good measure.

Leopard looked on with a faintly amused expression, as though she was watching kits play at being enemies to each other, squeaking out what they thought of as terrible insults. The other three cats from the Place of the Exiled listened to the exchange with emotionless faces, as though it was quite possibly the most boring thing they had heard of in the history of insults exchanged. Which it probably was, considering their upbringing.

Sparrowpaw ignored Harepaw's angry outburst, instead choosing to stalk away from the small group of cats without a backwards glance, much like the way a mighty dog might choose to walk away from an irritating kit that was of no use to him. Kestrelpaw had never felt more angry in her life as she watched her brother disappear into the forest, but she decided that there was enough time to fume over his actions later, when she didn't have an audience.

"He's changed," Coal said quietly, so that only Harepaw and Kestrelpaw could hear his words. Both of them looked at the loner in surprise, wondering what he meant by that. To Harepaw, Sparrowpaw had always been a right pain, preaching about this and that and constantly informing him of what he was doing wrong. Kestrelpaw was staring at Coal more out of amazement that he should have noticed it before she had been able to put her paw on exactly what was wrong. Her anger evaporated as she considered his words. He was right, of course. Sparrowpaw _had_ changed. Why hadn't she noticed it before? Well, actually, she amended, she had noticed that _something_ was different about him way back when she had had her vision about Squirrelpaw's death. She had noticed that both of them had changed, but hadn't been able to understand exactly how. Kestrelpaw decided that she would ponder this, too, as well as her anger, when she was alone again.

"Very well then," Leopard said after a few minutes of silence. At her words, the other three cats seemed to melt away into the forest, as silent as the shadows upon the forest floor. Leopard turned, about to follow her companions, and then paused. She addressed the three newcomers in a serious voice. "Follow us, outsiders. Do your best to keep up, but do not blunder about the place. If you lose sight of us, just wait where you are and we will come back for you."

Kestrelpaw nodded to show that she understood, and fell into step a few paces behind the black and red she-cat. She was amazed at the silent way in which the other she-cat moved, as if she was walking on air rather than on solid ground. Not even the fallen leaves dared to reveal her footsteps, electing instead to help make her passage more silent than ever. Kestrelpaw tried her best to keep her eyes on the she-cat as well as move silently, but found the task almost impossible. She had thought that she was a very stealthy mover when back at camp, but now she realised that she was merely a Two-leg blundering through the forest compared to the cats from the Others.

Kestrelpaw winced as she tread on a particularly crackly dry leaf, and hastened to get away from the spot where the leaf had betrayed her presence. She thought she knew why the Others were so dreadfully silent as they walked through the Place of the Exiled. Thinking over the attacks that she and her companions had had to fight off, she realised that it was necessary to avoid others knowing that you were there, as it gave you the advantage of being able to choose when to attack, rather than having to constantly wait for one to happen. As this realisation came to her, she also recognised something else. If the Others hadn't wanted to attack them, then they could easily have passed by, and Kestrelpaw and her companions would be none the wiser. This thought was rather unnerving, and she glanced about, sure that there were strange cats watching her at this very moment.

"There's a river up ahead," a voice said in her ear, so suddenly that Kestrelpaw had to resist the urge to jump with fright. Then she felt the cat that had spoken move on ahead, and she shuddered. It was really quite unnatural how they managed to move with such silence.

Kestrelpaw didn't have to wait long before she saw what the cat had mentioned. In front of her stood a huge river, rushing past her at a great pace, flinging water drops at those that stood too near to it. The noise from the river was deafening, and she wondered why she hadn't heard it sooner. The river crashed by her, mindless and yet seeming more powerful than even the strongest WeatherClan cat. Kestrelpaw shivered. She felt a great need to run away from this river. It looked as if it could quite easily carry her away, and, worse, drown her.

"Cross it," a voice said at her side, and Kestrelpaw world around to see the green eyed tom, Eagle, looking at her impatiently. When all she could do was stare at him in bewilderment, he let out a hiss of frustration. "It's not that difficult! You walk up to it and swim!"

Kestrelpaw stared at the tom in horror. Swim? He expected her to _swim_ across that river? How in StarClan's name was she supposed to swim to the other side of a river when the river itself would carry her away the moment she stepped in it? Kestrelpaw had the feeling that the tom was more than a little mad. Then she looked up and saw, to her utter astonishment, the black she-cat and the other tom waiting on the opposite side of the river.

"How did they get across?" Kestrelpaw asked in surprise, looking up and down the river for some way to cross it. Then she looked back at the cats on the other side. They were sopping wet. No... it couldn't be. She had to be wrong.

The brown tom next to her let out a long sigh of exasperation. "They swam across. It's not that difficult, you know. Put one paw in front of the other paw and continue to do that. Next thing you know you're across! Go on! We haven't got all day!"

Kestrelpaw sucked in a huge breath, and then padded tentatively forward. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harepaw looking as though he had swallowed a particularly large mouse and it had gone down the wrong way. Kestrelpaw opted to ignore him. His stunned expression was very similar to one on a fish that she had seen killed by Sandfeather, the medicine cat apprentice. Kestrelpaw turned her attention to the task ahead of her. One step at a time. That should be easy. One step at a time, and if you get swept away, deal with it when it happens.

Without giving the matter another thought, she plunged chest-deep into the water, and had to force herself not to suck in another sharp breath at the iciness of it. She felt herself getting carried away by the current, and determinedly began to plow her way towards the other side of the river. Despite the coldness of the water, she found that it was actually easier to swim across than she had thought. Sure, it was dragging her away, bit by bit. Sure, it was cold. Sure, her legs felt like they were rocks. But other than that, she was surprised at the ease in which she forced herself across it. Even when she found that her feet could no longer touch the bottom of the river, it still wasn't as bad as she had imagined it to be.

Kestrelpaw remembered the time she had first swum in the water, just after she had been made an apprentice. It had been a frightening experience, at first, but she had soon begun to realise that it wasn't as bad as her mother had always said it was. Stonebrook, despite her name, did not like the water. She detested it with all her might, and it was one of the few things that Kestrelpaw's mother didn't like. Kestrelpaw, on the other paw, decided that she might actually start to like swimming after this experience. Then she noticed that the cats on the other side of the bank were now little dots in the distance.

_Mouse dung!_ She thought angrily, and paddled through the water more quickly than before. It wasn't long before she reached the other side, and heaved herself out of the water, soaked to the bone. Kestrelpaw was surprised at how weak she suddenly felt, as if she hadn't eaten for a week. She almost collapsed onto the bank, and it was only by concentrating on the thought of getting to where the others were that she managed to walk at all.

_Maybe I don't like swimming after all_, she thought. _Especially not if it makes me this weak all the time._

When she was face to face with a dripping wet Coal, she allowed her attention to return to the side of the river that she had, less than half an hour ago, been standing on. Harepaw was now at the water's edge, staring across at the wet cats with disgust. Even from this distance, Kestrelpaw could almost hear him muttering about how he would have to get his nice, clean pelt wet. She chuckled at the thought. Like Harepaw's pelt had ever been _clean_.

Seeming to make up his mind, Harepaw plunged head first into the water, and swam strongly across towards the other side. Seeing him swim so well, Kestrelpaw's thoughts darkened immediately. She reflected once again on why stuck-up mouse brains like he could be able to do things so much better than she could, and how unfair it was on her part. Kestrelpaw wondered if she was a cat that had been reborn, and had done something terrible in her previous life. Maybe she had been a lazy furball. But surely that couldn't result in this punishment? Nevertheless, Kestrelpaw resolved to be better in her current life so that, should StarClan choose for her to be reborn, her future life could have the best kind of talents that it was possible to have.

"Ha!" were the first words out of Harepaw's mouth when he reached Kestrelpaw and the others. He shook as much of the water off himself as possible, and then turned a positively gloating expression on Kestrelpaw. "I suppose it might be a good idea for me to give you swimming lessons next time? After all, what kind of a swimmer drifts so far away from her destination that she can barely see it!"

Kestrelpaw's only reply was a grunt of irritation, and then she turned her attention on the black and red she-cat, who had crossed the river somewhere in between Kestrelpaw's crossing and Harepaw's. Leopard was padding off towards a group of large trees, huge towering red trees among them, the like of which Kestrelpaw had never seen. As she followed Leopard, she noticed that the ground was sloping slightly under her paws, and she looked around curiously. It was then that she noticed that they were actually on an island, of sorts, cut off from the rest of the land by the river, that surrounded the island completely.

Kestrelpaw fell back slightly so that she could study the strange cats. She found herself thinking that they weren't actually that different from the cats in her own Clan, except perhaps that these cats walked with a little more – who was she kidding? A _lot_ more – stealth than her own Clanmates, and that they had an air of extreme confidence that Kestrelpaw rarely saw in her Clan. Well, actually, she amended, Harepaw had a similar air, but much less subtle.

"Kestrelpaw?" she heard Coal ask from behind her. She slowed so that she was walking next to him, and gave him a questioning look.

"What?"

"You know... you and Harepaw really shouldn't continue with this stupid competition of yours," Coal said hesitantly, glancing around at the other cats to make sure that they weren't listening. When Kestrelpaw looked outraged at the suggestion that she was competing with Harepaw for something, Coal hastily added. "Don't deny it. You're both trying to be more stupid than the other. It was alright when you were both kits, perhaps even amusing to others. But you're not a kit any more, Kestrelpaw. You're... what? Ten moons old? Eleven? Nearly able to be a warrior in your SkyClan, from what I've understood."

Kestrelpaw looked stung at the accusation of being immature. "So what? Harepaw's even older."

Coal put on his best 'you-are-somewhat-dim-but-I'll-somehow-make-you-understand' look, and lowered his voice, so that, unless they had extremely sharp hearing, nobody else would overhear him. "I'll talk to him about it later. I'm serious, Kestrelpaw. We've announced to them that you're our leader, and I hope that that was a wise choice. These cats are going to come to _you_ when either Harepaw or I are found doing something unwise in their group, because you are the 'leader'. They are going to talk to _you_ when they think there are things to be discussed. And they are not going to respect a leader who is always bickering with one of her followers."

"But what if Harepaw insults me! I can't just let it pass!" the very idea was humiliating to say the least.

"Wrong. You _can_ and _will_ let it pass, unless it is something very insulting indeed. Knowing Harepaw, most of the things he will accuse you of in the near future will be petty. You have better things to do with your time than to argue with him. Many of your Clanmates' lives will be lost if you don't start to take life more seriously. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to enjoy life and have a sense of humour, but too much is as bad as too little. And what you and Harepaw argue about is no longer funny. It never was to me. If you want me to tell you exactly what I think about your arguments, then I'll say one word: insignificant. Kestrelpaw, if you can't grow up a bit more, one day you'll find yourself and others in some nasty situations that are a direct result of your infantile behaviour," Coal knew that he was exaggerating a bit, but he thought that with someone like Kestrelpaw, it was necessary to exaggerate. Otherwise she wouldn't take it seriously enough. He was already running through the speech he would make to Harepaw about the same thing, and worrying about it. Harepaw was liable to lose his temper at the slightest hint of criticism about his character.

Kestrelpaw felt rather hurt at that Coal was suggesting, no, _stating_, that she was immature. Kestrelpaw felt this was untrue and a mean thing to say, but she realised nonetheless that Coal was trying to be helpful. She was fond of him, which only made it more hurtful to be criticised by him. Kestrelpaw was silent as she considered what he had said. The more she thought it over, the more furious she was that Coal thought her to be immature. It has to be said that this was probably a good thing for Kestrelpaw, as she decided that the criticism was a challenge. He thought that she wouldn't be able to _not_ argue with Harepaw. Well, she would prove him wrong! By the end of the moon, Kestrelpaw thought, Coal would be forced to admit that he was wrong. She _would_ prove that she was better than Harepaw in that she was able to act in a mature way.

While Kestrelpaw thought these revolutionary thoughts, Coal had wandered off towards where Harepaw was trotting sullenly along, still annoyed at the supposed insult that Sparrowpaw had thrown at him. Harepaw did not take to others insulting him very kindly, and this was no exception. Therefore, he didn't notice Coal fall into step beside him. Nor did he hear a word of Coal's lecture about being more grown-up. Half-way through the lecture, Coal realised that Harepaw was not taking in anything of what he was trying to tell him, and so marched away from the apprentice with a loud sigh.

Kestrelpaw's mouth almost fell open when she reached the group of trees, and an _ah_ of amazement escaped her. Even Harepaw paused briefly to take in the sights around him before resuming his grumpy expression and irritated train of thought.

In front of them was a large camp, nestled in a large area that sloped slightly so that it formed a slight depression in the ground. Trees abounded in the entire area, even in the camp, so that Kestrelpaw was pretty sure that, at first glance, nobody would notice that it _was_ a camp. However, on second glance, one wondered how anyone could have missed it.

Many of the trees in the camp had hollows under them, much like a den, and, unless Kestrelpaw was very much mistaken, the cats in the Others slept in the den-like areas under the trees. In the centre of the camp was an tree that was larger than most, with large branches sticking out of it stiffly. Underneath the large tree was another hollow, and Kestrelpaw assumed that the tree was both a den for the leader of the Others, as well as a place the leader would call a meeting. The roots of the tree stretched out from where the tree was, in all directions, so that it looked like the tree was absorbing the energy of camp life as well as whatever else trees naturally absorbed through their roots, although Kestrelpaw wasn't quite sure what that was.

When Kestrelpaw and the others stepped into sight of the camp, a black and yellow tom padded up to them, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he took note of Kestrelpaw and her companions.

"Where did they come from?" he queried, his nostrils quivering with barely suppressed irritation at the presence of the intruders.

Before any of the others could reply, the black she-cat said in sharp tones. "That is none of your business, Hawk. To question why the leader brings cats to the camp will bring you very close to joining those others that have decided to break the rules. I suppose you remember Rule Number One?"

Hawk's green eyes narrowed even more, until they were mere slits. Then he let out a long breath, and dipped his head slightly towards the black she-cat. "I apologise for my behaviour, and hope that you will see fit to grant me with a second chance."

The black she-cat studied him for a moment, and Kestrelpaw tried to look over the black she-cat's head so that she could see Hawk better. His reaction to the black she-cat's words surprised Kestrelpaw somewhat, and she decided that the black she-cat must be someone important in the Others, perhaps a medicine cat, if they had one, or maybe a deputy of sorts. What was strange, however, was that the leader, Leopard, allowed the black she-cat to say such things without even a sign that this was what Leopard thought the black she-cat should say.

"Granted. Do not think that you can always get away so easily, though, Hawk. You may be second-in-command, but that does not give you the ability to escape from punishment. Now go and meet us in the leader's den, we have a few things to discuss with these newcomers. They wish to join the Others," the black she-cat added, almost as if she had forgotten this until that moment.

At her words, Hawk's eyes didn't narrow like they had before. Instead, they widened until Kestrelpaw thought that they might pop out. Then he hissed at the black she-cat and Leopard, "Are you out of your minds? I do not wish to challenge your decisions, leader -" this was said respectfully as he quickly realised his mistake - "but to take on three new cats, whom we know nothing of, is dangerous! They could be spies! I know that you are the leader, but I feel that -"

"Hawk!" the black she-cat snapped before Leopard could say anything. "Did you or did you not hear what I said? Go to the leader's den _now_, before you come to the same fate as your father did."

"I -" Hawk began, and then obviously thought better of it. He turned and walked stiffly towards the leader's den, which turned out to be the den beneath the large tree. The black she-cat followed him, leaving Kestrelpaw and her companions alone with the three remaining members of the Others.

"Eagle, Goshawk, I want you two on the first patrol after sun-high. Take one other cat with you, and make sure to note who trespasses on our territory, and which group they belong to, or if they are by themselves," Leopard ordered the two toms, and they sprinted off towards one of the other dens without hesitation. Kestrelpaw marveled at the quickness in which they obeyed their leader. It occurred to her then that the reason Hawk might have been so outspoken was because he had a high position in the Others. This didn't quite make sense, as he didn't strike her as the type to be a medicine cat, or anything similar. But she was certain that the black she-cat was also high in the rogue group. Maybe the black she-cat was the medicine cat, although this seemed unlikely.

"You three, follow me," the red and black she-cat commanded, heading towards the leader's den. Kestrelpaw and her companions followed somewhat tentatively. They were in new territory, and therefore they weren't quite sure what their position in this group would be.

Kestrelpaw slipped inside the leader's den after everyone else had entered. Once she was inside, she was surprised by the coolness of the place, and her fur felt slightly chilled as it still had not dried fully from the swim in the river. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the sudden dimness of the den, and, when they had adjusted, she was relieved to realise that Hawk was sitting as far away from the companions as possible. He somehow struck Kestrelpaw as the kind of cat who would act first and ask questions later.

"Sun, are they trustworthy?" Leopard directed the question at the black she-cat, which reinforced Kestrelpaw's opinion that the she-cat might be a medicine cat.

"I've already told you!" the black she-cat snapped in reply. Then she turned to gaze at Kestrelpaw. For some reason, the brown apprentice felt a chill run down her spine that had nothing to do with the coolness of the den. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees as the black she-cat stared at Kestrelpaw. "One of this number will stay with us, whether dead or alive. Kestrelpaw, yes, I know your name – you told me, remember? Anyway, Kestrelpaw, you are responsible for the conduct of your companions for the next three moons. If, after that length of time – be quiet, Hawk! – all three of you are judged worthy of the Others, then we will accept you. You will be treated as one of us until that time, but always remember that you are _not_ one of us. I know that you have a reason for coming to us, but I do not wish to know at this moment what that reason is."

When silence greeted the black she-cat's words, she continued. "I know that three moons is asking for much. I know that you have limited time, but I also know that it is necessary you stay with us for at least that long. Now... any questions?"

"What position do you and... Hawk... hold in the Others?" the moment the words were out of her mouth, Kestrelpaw wished that she could disappear. It was incredibly stupid of her to ask that, she was sure. She could almost see the death blow coming at her now.

To her great relief, the black she-cat seemed amused. "Hawk is my second-in-command. So is Leopard. I'm the leader of the Others."

Kestrelpaw was momentarily stunned, so unexpected was this news. She thought back to how Leopard had looked back at the other members of the Others once or twice, and realised now that the black and red she-cat had been seeking approval for her actions. Then she looked more closely at the black she-cat in front of her. There was something unnerving about her. Kestrelpaw searched desperately for this something, but at first was unable to find anything that should be remotely odd about the black she-cat.

And then she noticed it. The she-cat's eyes were what was unnerving her. They were black. But that wasn't what Kestrelpaw felt uncomfortable about. No. What she found discomforting was the fact that the she-cat's eyes had no whites. They were completely and utterly black. Kestrelpaw couldn't even make out a pupil within the black. The den may have been dim and lacking in light, but Kestrelpaw wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. In that instant she felt as though she was verging on having the answer to something important. It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite grasp it yet. The feeling of not being able to grasp things that she felt she should know had become increasingly common over the past moon or so. And it was a feeling she didn't like.

There was one thing that she did know, however: this place held answers to her unasked questions, as well as her asked ones. And she knew, with a certainty that she had never felt before, that she would find the answers.

***sigh* this story is starting to become boring. Maybe the next few chapters will be better. And, I know what you who have read my other story are thinking - these stories are curiously alike. But, I assure you, I had to do this to make room for possible future plans. **


	17. Meeting

_**2011**_**! Oh. My. StarClan. It's a new year! I have promised myself that I will or won't do several things this year, as I did last year. Last year, I failed utterly in those promises. I hope this year I'll fare better.**

Meeting

An ear-piercing shriek tore the air. Whitepaw jerked awake in shock, and stared around in bewilderment as he looked for the source of the noise that had woken him from a comforting sleep.

"No!" a cat screeched in anguish, and Whitepaw jumped to his feet. What had happened? He cursed his need for sleep as he raced towards the noise. He reached towards the medicine cat den, knowing the noise had come from there. Even then he knew what he would find. It had happened far too often in the past moon for him not to know.

Entering the medicine cat den, he saw a tortoiseshell she-cat crouched over the unmoving body of another cat. Whitepaw hesitated as he came upon the sight. Who was it this time? He tentatively walked over to where the she-cat was crouching, and felt his chest constrict as he recognised the body. Birdheart.

"Be quiet, Whitepaw," a voice murmured gently, and he turned to see the medicine cat apprentice, Sandfeather, sitting quietly in a corner of the medicine cat den. He paused, and then padded forward to where the deputy was crouched over Birdheart.

"Why are you doing this, StarClan?" Spottedfur wailed, burying her nose in Birdheart's fur. Whitepaw was momentarily startled at the strength of Spottedfur's sorrow. He hadn't realised that she was that close to Birdheart. He felt an odd scratchiness in his throat as he tried to speak some words of comfort to Spottedfur, even though he could think of none.

Just then several cats hurtled into the medicine cat den, coming to an abrupt halt as they saw what was wrong. One of the cats padded over to Spottedfur. Whitepaw recognised Willowfur, his mother. The other cats stood uncomfortably near the entrance to the medicine cat den, unsure of what to do. One of them turned around and raced off, no doubt to fetch Greenstar.

Willowfur crouched down beside the deputy, and murmured. "Oh, Spottedfur. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Whitepaw knew that if he had spoken those words, they would have sounded hollow and not at all genuine. When Willowfur spoke them, however, they were filled with sorrow and understanding, more than Whitepaw could ever have put into words.

Spottedfur leaned against Willowfur and began to wail more than ever. It was a strange sound, one that Whitepaw hadn't heard before, yet it was filled with anguish and sorrow and more than Whitepaw could adequately say. The deputy seemed at that moment to have lost all the sensibility she had possessed her entire life, reduced instead to a keening cat who had had someone important to them taken away forever.

Whitepaw felt like he was intruding upon something that he had no experience of whatsoever. Trying to be subtle about it, he slipped out of the medicine cat den. He headed towards the camp exit, so lost in a mix of emotions that he barely noticed Greenstar passing by him as he went towards the medicine cat den.

He began to walk unconsciously towards the Two-leg place near to where SkyClan's territory was. Whitepaw's mind was like the muddle of different coloured leaves in leaf-fall, confused and disordered. He felt as if he had been delivered a wound by enemy claws. A wound that would not heal. It didn't matter that he had never been that close to Birdheart, nor that he wasn't experiencing the depth of grief that Spottedfur was. What mattered was that Birdheart had been one of his Clanmates, and that he had joined StarClan prematurely. Birdheart wasn't an old cat, and should rightfully have lived many more moons before joining StarClan. The unfairness of it all pierced Whitepaw's heart, and he hated StarClan in that moment more than he had ever done in his entire life. Not to mention how he felt about WeatherClan. The hatred he felt for the cats from WeatherClan was almost more than he could bear.

A sudden roar stopped him in his tracks. Whitepaw's head shot up and he looked around. To his left, a Two-leg monster was racing away from him with tremendous speed. He hadn't realised that he was already so close to the Two-leg place. Looking ahead, he saw the ever-growing cluster of Two-leg nests, barely a five minute walk from where he was.

For some inexplicable reason, Whitepaw felt drawn to the place. A sudden breeze propelled him forwards slightly, so that the tips of his paws just touched the thunderpath. Then he took a deep breath, and made to turn away. The Two-leg place was off-limits to him. He wasn't even really allowed out of camp on his own, anyway. As he made to go back towards SkyClan's camp, another breeze, stronger than the first, blew in his face fiercely, causing his eyes to smart.

_Go there. _

Whitepaw started. He looked around for the source of the voice, but found nothing. Thinking he was imagining things, and deciding that it was the cause of too much strain and lack of sleep, he began to pad in the direction of the camp. Another breeze caused him to stop again, and this time he listened carefully, to reassure himself that he had only been imagining things. He wasn't reassured. This time he definitely heard something.

"Who are you?" Whitepaw whispered to the wind, and his words were whisked away by another breeze.

_Go there. _

"To the Two-leg place?" Whitepaw asked in a quiet voice, surprised. He had a faint suspicion that his mind really was playing tricks on him. Maybe he was going mad.

_Go to where the Two-legs dwell._

And then Whitepaw saw her. In front of him, a transparent image of a pale brown she-cat with one yellow eye and one blue eye. He blinked several times to make sure that he really wasn't imagining her. After the fifth blink, he succeeded in convincing himself that she was there, right in front of him.

"Who are you?" he repeated.

_Go to the Two-leg place._

"Why?"

_You'll find out why. Go there._

Whitepaw sighed in frustration, and then turned towards the thunderpath again. The urge to go to the Two-leg place was almost overwhelming now, and he threw caution to the wind. The transparent she-cat wanted him to go there, and he was in no mood to go back to camp. The atmosphere in camp nowadays was miserable and down-hearted. When he faced the Two-leg place, however, he felt an odd sense of joy and something else. Whitepaw didn't believe in destiny and fate, but he could find no other word for what he felt. He didn't just want to go to the Two-leg place. He _needed_ to go there.

With that thought in mind, he stepped onto the thunderpath. A surge of confidence, something that he hadn't felt in moons, swept through him as he walked over the rough surface of the thunderpath to reach the other side. When he looked up, Whitepaw found himself face-to-face with an unnaturally white Two-leg nest. Instead of running with all haste back to the Clan camp, he found himself walking confidently onwards, almost as if he was being pulled towards the Two-leg place.

As he walked, he saw Two-legs riding on strange beasts with legs that were shape like circles. He saw a few holding dogs on long, oddly coloured vine-like things, and one Two-leg walking besides a dog without a vine-like thing. He passed many Two-leg nests, all seeming disturbingly like one another. Whitepaw saw a few Two-leg kits, who ran towards him, screaming with delight. He picked up his pace at the sight of them, and was quickly past them.

Near the centre of the Two-leg place, he found himself staring at a tall, black Two-leg that stared seriously ahead, not seeming to notice the crowds of other Two-legs that passed by. Whitepaw paused when he saw this strange being, wondering why it was standing frozen like that. He tentatively sniffed it, and instantly recoiled. It didn't smell at all like a Two-leg. Deciding that such things were better left alone, Whitepaw continued walking through the Two-leg place.

Eventually, he realised that he had reached the end of the Two-leg place. In front of him was a strange nest. It stood far taller and was far larger than the other nests that he had passed that day, and Whitepaw wondered why this was. Maybe the leader of the Two-legs lived here. In the afternoon sunlight, something on the large Two-leg nest glinted a brown-gold. Looking up so far made Whitepaw's head hurt, so he instead looked ahead of him. Whitepaw decided that he wouldn't go too close to the nest, as he was afraid of the leader of the Two-legs spotting him and throwing things at him, as he had heard some Two-legs did in the elders' tales.

Instead, Whitepaw leapt onto the blackish grey thing that surrounded the Two-leg nest, and crept around the side of the large grey Two-leg nest. Rounding the corner of the Two-leg nest, he came upon the strangest sight he had ever seen in his young life. The grass behind the Two-leg nest was green and abundant, but there were grey stones jutting out everywhere, with odd patterns on them. Whitepaw was astonished once again by the minds of the Two-legs. He wondered why they would have so many grey stones sticking out of the ground. Maybe it was a natural formation.

Several flowers were in front of some of the grey stones, and Whitepaw sniffed the nearest one. It smelled unusually fresh and clean for a drought, and he realised that the Two-legs didn't seem to be suffering one bit from the drought. He glanced at the ground beneath his feet, and put his face near to it. It was sweet, but with the slightly bitter tang that he associated with Two-legs. He thought of his skinny and gaunt Clanmates, and again cursed both StarClan and WeatherClan. Why did the Two-legs not suffer from the drought, especially when everybody else did? None of the Two-legs looked particularly unhealthy, to Whitepaw's inexperienced eye, and neither did any of them seem particularly unhappy.

He found himself lingering on these bitter thoughts, and so hastily looked around for something to distract himself. At first, he couldn't find anything that was interesting enough to catch his eye. Then, in the centre of the strange, grey-stone area, he saw a pale brown cat sitting on one of the grey stones comfortably. Whitepaw suddenly felt the urge to go and talk to the cat, and, having nothing better to do, he picked his way through the grey stones to talk to it.

As he neared, he realised the cat was deep in thought, staring off into space as if remembering something. Whitepaw paused, feeling slightly as though he was intruding upon something. Then the cat's eyes flicked to him, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. The cat's eyes were an odd colour: one yellow and one blue.

Whitepaw shifted his weight uncomfortably, and looked down at his paws. The cat was the image of the transparent she-cat who had shown herself to him and told him to go to the Two-leg place. He wondered if it was the same cat, yet he felt that if he asked, and got it wrong, he would look stupid.

"Hello, I've been waiting for you," the cat informed him solemnly, although, if Whitepaw had thought to look up, he would have noticed a twinkle in her eyes.

"Um... you weren't that cat who... um... er... told me to... come here?" Whitepaw managed to croak out, feeling more embarrassed than ever. His paws suddenly seemed to become very interesting.

The cat's eyes were now positively sparkling with humour. "Sadly, no. If I had such a power, then I would be a famous cat among the kittypets and loners of this place. Unfortunately, I'm only an unknown entity to most of them."

"Then how come you were... waiting for me?" Whitepaw risked a brief glance up at the cat. He wasn't sure why he was so embarrassed. Maybe it was the eyes. He had heard of how some cats had eyes that told a story by themselves, and of how others had been able to read emotion in another's eyes. Whitepaw had rarely been able to do that, but now he was pretty sure he'd be able to if he looked into this cat's eyes, and the thought was far from comforting to him.

"I had a recurring dream in which I was sitting here and I met a cat who looked like you. We talked, and then you turned to go. I followed you. But I always wake up before I can find out what happens after that," the cat explained, and now even her voice betrayed her good spirits. Whitepaw found himself relaxing slightly as the cat spoke, and decided that his previous embarrassment had been more due to the fact that he thought she might think he was stupid than anything else.

Whitepaw looked up and stared at her. "You knew this would happen? Are you a... a... medicine cat or something?"

The cat's odd eyes betrayed a momentary confusion before she began to laugh. "I don't think so, whatever a medicine cat is. I'm sure I'd know if I was one, if I really was one. No. I'm merely quite intelligent, if I do say so myself."

The she-cat looked thoughtful as she continued. "I believe that the cat you saw, the one that looked like me, was the same cat who sent me the dreams. I don't know exactly who she is, but I know enough to know that she is... well... dead. I do believe she said something about coming from 'StarClan'. What's your name?"

The sudden change in topic confused Whitepaw for a moment. Then he regained his wits, and replied. "Whitepaw. And yours?"

"Misty," the she-cat replied, and then looked up at the slowly sinking sun. She returned her gaze to Whitepaw. "I think your friends will miss you if you don't leave soon."

Whitepaw started as he realised that his Clanmates would indeed notice his absence very soon. He would have to go. He turned around and padded away from the she-cat, caught up in wondering what excuse he could invent for being away for so long. It would be a lie to say that he had been hunting. Maybe he would go hunting, though. That way he could say that he had gone hunting and they would believe that he had taken so long because prey was so scarce. Now would not be a good time to bring up the fact that he had been in the Two-leg place. Not when Birdheart had so recently joined StarClan.

Soft pawsteps sounded behind him, and he paused. Turning around, he saw Misty following him. He opened his mouth to say something, but then remembered her words. She had said that she would follow him, but that she wasn't sure what would happen afterwards. Panic immediately gripped him. What if his Clan exiled him when they found out a kittypet – he was sure that she was a kittypet – had followed him home, and thus also discovered that he had been in the Two-leg place? What if he was forced to become a loner? The thought chilled Whitepaw to the bone.

Yet he found he couldn't tell her not to follow him. In a burst of recklessness, he continued on his way without commenting on the fact that she was walking behind him, clearly intent on following Whitepaw all the way to SkyClan's territory. In that moment, he decided that he didn't care about the consequences. It was a very un-Whitepaw-like thing to do. Usually he was careful to think through the consequences before acting, even when he had teased Kestrelpaw. He had known when to stop and leave her alone, unlike Harepaw. Today, however, Whitepaw was of the opinion that there was little to lose by allowing Misty to follow him. So what, he thought, if he was kicked out of the Clan? Then he would have to deal with things then.

Whitepaw walked through the Two-leg place with a sense of purpose similar to that which had led him into the Two-leg place. He walked past dogs, cats, birds, Two-legs, and the monsters that belonged to the Two-legs. He walked past the nests of the Two-legs, and continued on his way even when a Two-leg monster almost collided with him as he crossed the thunderpath that marked the beginning of the wilds and the end of the Two-legs' territory. Later on, Whitepaw often thought about what would have happened if the Two-leg monster hadn't noticed him, and had run over him and ended his life once and for all. At that moment, however, he was immune to the terror that usually would have struck him if such a thing had happened to him on any other day.

His head up, Whitepaw's nostrils quivered as he scented a mouse. He abandoned his reckless pose for a moment, so that he could pounce on the mouse. Then he continued on his way, the mouse in his mouth. If he had stopped to check what Misty was doing, he would have noticed that she, too, was carrying a piece of prey in her jaws, the only difference being that the one she carried was a pigeon rather than a mouse.

When he padded into the camp, his reckless pose fled immediately, and was replaced by a sense of stupidity. What had he done? What had made him do that? How could he have been so stupid as to allow a strange cat to hunt on SkyClan's territory when their own prey was so scarce as to be almost nonexistant? Whitepaw thought, in that moment, that he would be joining the loners and rogues that lived on the outskirts of SkyClan's territory very soon indeed.

He dropped the mouse on the small fresh-kill pile, and realised that Misty dropped the pigeon there, too. Then he turned to see a small group of cats surveying him in surprise and, to a certain degree, horror. Whitepaw realised how very special his paws were at that moment, and decided a study of them would be the ideal thing.

"Who's that, Whitepaw?" Greenstar's voice was dangerously quiet, and Whitepaw swallowed hard.

"I'm Misty," Misty piped up from behind Whitepaw, and stood a little bit away from the others so that they could see her clearly. The Clan cats looked at her silently, and then turned to once again fix eyes that were both curious and accusatory on Whitepaw.

"She's a kittypet," Whitepaw said quietly, much to his Clan's outrage. Before they could say anything, he quickly added. "Or are you a loner?"

"A kittypet that turned into a loner at the age of nine moons," Misty said helpfully. Then she turned to address the Clan cats. "I followed Whitepaw over here because I received a message from a she-cat who told me that she was in StarClan. When I say message, I mean that she sent me a dream in which I met Whitepaw in a graveyard – where the Two-legs bury their dead – and I followed him."

"You were in the Two-leg place, Whitepaw?" Sandfeather's voice was clear and accusing, cutting through the murmur of voices that had erupted at Misty's words.

"I – yes, yes I was. I had to go there. I was told to," Whitepaw added defensively. "A she-cat with a blue eye and a yellow eye told me to go there."

"A sign from StarClan," Sandfeather breathed in astonishment, gazing at Whitepaw with new-found respect. She seemed to have forgotten her previous resentment of Whitepaw's breaking-of-the-rules. The she-cat turned to Greenstar with a fierce look in her brown eyes. "Greenstar, if StarClan want her to join, then we must not disobey them."

"I-" Greenstar looked at Sandfeather with a questioning look in his eyes. When she nodded vigorously, he sighed as if in defeat, and then turned back to Whitepaw and Misty. "StarClan has decreed that this... hmmph... _kittypet_ should be allowed to join SkyClan. So be it. Do you wish to be given a Clan name?" he directed this question at Misty, who nodded eagerly.

"Very well then. In a week's we shall give you a Clan name, and you, Whitepaw, will be made warrior. I suppose it would be a good idea to make Daisyheart's re-" Greenstar stopped himself quickly. He had been about to say 'Daisyheart's remaining kits', but had realised just in time that that might not have gone down well with the rest of the Clan. Recovering himself from this brief stumble, he continued quickly, "- kits into apprentices, too."

Fortunately, the only ones who had noticed his mistake were Sandfeather and Redstripe, both of whom politely ignored it. The rest of the Clan broke out into chatter, some shooting disapproving looks at Misty, others murmuring congratulations to Whitepaw and Dustclaw, Daisyheart's mate.

Sandfeather watched as Greenstar moved away from the crowd of cats, and disappear into the leader's den. Then she glanced at the warrior-to-be, Whitepaw. He seemed happier than he had been in a long while. It must be a relief to him to finally have the date of his warrior ceremony settled, once and for all. No doubt he had been feeling rather inadequate of late, considering the fact that Greenstar kept on announcing that Whitepaw was to be made a warrior 'soon', and then seeming to forget about it the next day. Well, this time Greenstar wouldn't be able to forget, not with all the rest of the Clan muttering about it.

"Spottedfur, do you believe that your apprentice is ready to become a warrior?" Greenstar bellowed out, his neck fur prickling in the afternoon heat. The cats of SkyClan stared up at him with expressions of boredom, excitement, and awe, depending on who he decided to look at. At his words, they all turned to gaze at his deputy, their eyes expectant.

"Yes, I believe so," Spottedfur replied, her eyes brightening momentarily before once again dulling. Some of her Clanmates noticed, and a few leaned over to whisper into their neighbour's ear. Most found it strange that Spottedfur was taking Birdheart's death so badly. It wasn't as if they had been that close, after all.

Greenstar, secretly thinking hard over his choice for Whitepaw's warrior name, continued solemnly, his green eyes serious. "Then I, Greenstar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Whitepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Greenstar experienced a moment of doubt as he saw Whitepaw's eyes narrow, seeming to think through his answer carefully before he spoke. Greenstar wondered what was going through the apprentice's head as he hesitated over saying the binding words. Greenstar himself had not hesitated during his own warrior ceremony when his leader had asked him the question. In fact, it wasn't so much a question as part of a ceremony, really. Nobody ever seriously thought about saying 'no'.

"I do," Whitepaw said finally, and Greenstar found that he was rather relieved. He had almost been afraid of Whitepaw questioning the way Greenstar was conducting the ceremony, though he couldn't think why he was afraid of that.

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Whitepaw, from now on you will be known as Whitefire. StarClan honours your thoughtfulness and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan," Greenstar's voice boomed out in the silent camp, in the split second before the cats of SkyClan erupted into excited shouts and chants.

"Whitefire! Whitefire! Whitefire!" they chorused, a few even laughing at the sound of the strange name upon their tongues. They had become so used to saying 'Whitepaw' that it would take some time to become accustomed to calling him by his new, warrior's name.

Greenstar waited a few seconds so that the SkyClan cats could shout themselves semi-hoarse, and then continued, his voice loud and clear. "We also are gathered here today to rename the former kittypet Misty, who wishes to become one of us. She shall become a warrior at once, as Spottedfur, Redstripe, and Stonebrook have all decreed that she is an able hunter and her fighting skills, though not as good as some of us -" he couldn't resist saying that, being still annoyed at having to take in another cat whilst SkyClan was in the midst of a serious drought - "will suffice."

There was a short pause as the cats of SkyClan waited for Greenstar to continue with the ceremony that would make Misty not only one of them, but also a warrior. A few, Redstripe included, muttered darkly about kittypets being taken into a Clan at such a time as this. The rest sat rooted to the spot, gazing up at Greenstar with wide eyes and waiting for him to continue the ceremony.

"I, Greenstar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look upon this loner. She has been trained in the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Misty, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Greenstar heard a few cats mumbling about the warrior ceremony's words being changed to suit Misty's position, but ignored them. He couldn't very well use the same ones that he had used with Whitefire and the others that he had made into warriors, could he?

"Yes, I do," Misty's voice was excited, and didn't hold a trace of the doubt that Whitefire had revealed momentarily before his acceptance of the burden of being a warrior. Then again, Whitefire had always been one to think before he acted, and, from what Greenstar knew of Misty, she wasn't half as cautious as Whitefire was.

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Misty, from now on you will be known as Mistypool. StarClan honours your determination and -" Greenstar hesitated ever-so-slightly - "outspokenness and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan."

"Mistypool! Mistypool! Mistypool!" the Clan chanted, but even a kit could have sensed their considerable decrease in enthusiasm. Greenstar felt a momentary stab of pity for Mistypool. It had to be hard knowing that you weren't welcome in the Clan that you had joined.

He allowed the chanting to die down slowly, and then, when silence once again surrounded the SkyClan camp, he spoke. "Petalkit, you have reached the age of six moons -" strictly speaking, as everyone gathered there knew, Petalkit was actually closer to eight moons, but the drought and the consequent deaths of her littermates had driven all thought of apprentice ceremonies from everyone's mind - "and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Petalpaw. I ask StarClan to watch over you and and guide you until you find in your paws the strength and courage of a warrior."

Here Greenstar paused so that his words could sink in. He always enjoyed this moment, the moment of suspense before the mentor for an apprentice was announced. It was a moment that he knew could change the lives of the apprentice, as the mentor would be responsible for training the apprentice and, to a certain degree, shaping the apprentice's personality. If the apprentice and the mentor didn't get on well, or the mentor was not able enough, then the apprentice could very well be judged not worthy of being made a warrior as quickly as his or her fellow apprentices were made ones. The shame of that apprentice who was left behind in the apprentices' den was something not to be thought about. Greenstar himself had been held back by three moons because of his mentor's inadequacy to deal with a lively young apprentice.

"Thornheart, you have proved yourself to be an excellent mentor, and you have shown yourself to be a calm and wise warrior. You will be mentor to Petalpaw, and I hope that you will pass on all you know to Petalpaw."

The surrounding cats cheered enthusiastically as the new apprentice and her mentor touched noses. Thornheart was a wise choice for a mentor in these times, as he was capable and popular among the other cats. Greenstar knew that many had hoped that Thornheart would be the deputy, on the long ago night when he had chosen Spottedfur instead. Nevertheless, Thornheart had not shown the slightest hint of jealousy, despite the facts that many cats had declared that Greenstar, being inexperienced, had chosen the wrong deputy. Greenstar felt a moment of regret as he looked at Thornheart. There had been another reason, more personal, for him not choosing Thornheart as a deputy.

"Rockkit, you have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to become apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rockpaw. I ask StarClan to watch over you and guide you until you find in your paws the strength and courage of a warrior," Greenstar began, and watched as the newly named Rockpaw stepped forward eagerly, his pelt shining in the sun and his dark blue eyes gleaming with barely suppressed excitement.

"Stonebrook, you have proved yourself to be a worthy member of SkyClan, and have shown yourself to be energetic and caring. You will be mentor to Rockpaw, and I hope that you will pass on all you know to Rockpaw," Greenstar continued, gazing affectionately at the grey she-cat as she stepped forward to touch noses with her new apprentice. He and Stonebrook had once been the bane of each other's lives, but that had changed when they became older and more mature. It still amused him to think of the trouble they used to cause each other when they were apprentices.

Greenstar paused as he considered the last apprentice-to-be, sitting quietly next to his mother, Daisyheart. Stonekit was the youngest of Daisyheart's remaining kits, and the quietest, in Greenstar's opinion. He knew very well that Sandfeather had wanted Stonekit to become the next medicine cat apprentice, but the kit had refused the post, opting instead to become a warrior along with his brother and sister. He was the very image of his father, Dustclaw, not looking in the least bit like Daisyheart in either colouring or shape and size. In fact, Greenstar was certain that, when Stonekit was a fully grown cat, one would have serious trouble deciding who was Dustclaw and who was Dustclaw's son.

It had taken a long, agonised night of thought before Greenstar had finally decided on the appropriate mentor for Stonekit. He had thought of choosing Redstripe, before realising that Redstripe's temperament would probably not be good for Stonekit. Runningfoot had been a better choice, but, seeing as how he his mate, Fernheart, had just had kits, Greenstar thought that Runningfoot would be a slightly distracted mentor. Greenstar had been unwilling to apprentice Stonekit to any of the cats whose apprentices had gone missing, just in case said apprentices returned. Which left Dustclaw and Spottedfur, who would be able to take on a new apprentice once Whitefire had been made a warrior. The problem was that Spottedfur was still grieving over Birdheart, and she would probably spend half her time in thought, which meant that any apprentice would not get much training from her. If he apprenticed Stonekit to Dustclaw, the latter might favour Stonekit too much, considering the fact that Stonekit was his son. Which left only one other choice really, seeing as both Petalpaw and Rockpaw had already had their mentors decided long in advance. There was also another, added, advantage to naming Stonekit mentor to this cat.

"Stonekit, you have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From now on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Stonepaw. I ask StarClan to watch over you and guide you until you find in your paws the strength and courage of a warrior," Greenstar's words seemed to echo around the camp eerily as he spoke, and he noticed several cats shift uncomfortably. Ignoring them, he gazed at the newly named apprentice sitting below him, and gave Stonepaw a reassuring, but brief, nod.

"Whitefire, you are ready to take on an apprentice. Spottedfur has trained you well in the way of the warrior, and you have shown yourself to be thoughtful and wise for your age. You will be mentor to Stonepaw, and I hope that you will pass on all you know to your new apprentice," Greenstar resisted the urge to purr at the shock on the new warrior's face as he realised that he was already a mentor. He watched as the new warrior and his apprentice touched noses tentatively, and then listened as the cats of SkyClan broke out into loud yells and the occasional shrill shout of delight.

"Petalpaw! Rockpaw! Stonepaw! Petalpaw! Rockpaw! Stonepaw!" they chanted furiously, some even going so far as to get up and do an odd little move that Greenstar took to be an expression of happiness. He understood how they felt. Finally, there was something to celebrate during a time like this. Something to be happy for and to cheer and chatter excitedly about.

Greenstar's eyes shone benevolently upon his Clan as they cheered. He wondered if, perhaps, this was a good omen for future times.

**What is the point of having Misty in the story? I'm going to say something no good writer should ever say = I don't really know. I just had this faint niggling at the back of my mind that she could come in handy later on. And I obey my nigglings at the back of my mind, crazy as that may sound. But I enjoyed writing this chapter, for all its apparent pointlessness.**


	18. Eavesdropping

**Chapter Eighteen! Golly! Blimey! Okay, okay. That's enough. Let's get down to business.**

Eavesdropping

Kestrelpaw launched herself at the running rabbit, her teeth glistening in the dim light as her lips drew back in a snarl of ferocity. She wouldn't forgive herself if this one got away, too.

Her paws hit the ground with a _thud_ as Kestrelpaw missed the rabbit by a whisker's length. Growling fiercely in frustration, she shot after it, a brown blur in the dark forest, barely visible. Kestrelpaw lowered her head slightly as she charged after her prey, weaving in and out of the trees with relative ease. She had learnt already that she must not go too fast, though. Not when she had her amount of skill. Only a few days ago, she had crashed into a particularly hard tree. She still had a small lump on her head that was proof of her encounter with it.

Suddenly, the scents around her changed. The familiar, earthy scent of the Others was now mingled with a vaguely familiar, fresher scent that reminded Kestrelpaw faintly of grass after a heavy rain that was mixed with the sharper smell of blood. She was certain that she had smelt this before, and was equally certain that she didn't belong in this part of the forest. She was on the border of another group's territory, and therefore in terrible danger.

Skidding to a halt, and allowing the terrified rabbit to run free, Kestrelpaw took in a sharp breath. She tried to identify what group this was, and then a shiver ran down her spine as she finally put a name to the scent. Light's group. Many times she had been told the tale of how the original leader of the group had been defeated by the Others, and how the group had once been thought to have vanished to the furthest corners of the Place of the Exiled. In recent moons, however, Light's group had made a comeback. They were now the fifth largest group with the Place of the Exiled, with the Others ranking second. Kestrelpaw was exactly sure what the largest group was, as they didn't live in this part of the forest, and she had been afraid to ask. The Others were highly competitive, and any reminder of their group being second-best was enough to cause fur to fly.

Kestrelpaw backed away slowly, keeping her ears pricked and her eyes narrowed as she searched frantically for any signs of Light's group. If even one member had seen her getting this close to the border, she was dead meat. Perhaps if she had not been alone, things would have been better. However, a mere apprentice-aged cat was no match for the battle-hardened warriors of the group of Light.

When she had reassured herself that she was completely alone, Kestrelpaw turned and ran back into the heart of the Others' territory. To her relief, she heard no pursuing paws, and no snarls of rage behind her. She shuddered to think how close she had come to initiating a war between the two groups.

Kestrelpaw paused when she reached what she was pretty sure was the centre of the Others' territory, and allowed herself to breath more evenly. She gazed around her for any sign of prey. It had been firmly impressed upon her that she was not to come back without at least one piece of prey. If she failed to catch any, then she was as good as useless to the Others, and she would be thrown out. Kestrelpaw certainly didn't want that to happen. She needed to find out this 'Star' that WeatherClan wanted so badly, and return it to them.

Even as she thought of the dire results of her lack of skill at hunting, Kestrelpaw heard a slight scuffle to her left. She froze, and then, as quietly as she could, turned her head in that direction. A wave of relief enveloped her as she saw a squirrel foraging among the leaves of the forest, seemingly oblivious to her presence. Kestrelpaw shook her head ever so slightly when she saw that her prey was a squirrel. Stupid as it seemed, she had refused to eat any squirrels since arriving at the camp of the Others. It reminded her too much of the talking squirrel that had accompanied Squirrelpaw. However, she happily tore into hares. They had become her favourite food, actually, much to Harepaw's disgust.

"Go," Kestrelpaw breathed to the squirrel, who immediately pricked up its ears and looked at the source of the noise. They stared at each other for a moment, neither daring to move, and then the squirrel made a dash for freedom. Kestrelpaw watched it race up into the nearest tree, and listened as it chattered angrily at her. Then she turned her attention back to the hunt.

The brown apprentice crept silently through the forest, alert for any signs of prey. An age seemed to pass, during which she saw nothing but a few squirrels. Then, to her utmost delight, she spied a plump hare that was busily attending to some duty of its. Kestrelpaw watched it for a few seconds, carefully calculating the distance and the time it would take her to reach it, not to mention the time it would take it to escape if she moved. She couldn't afford to lose this one.

As if sensing her presence, the hare started, and looked up, its nostrils quivering and its ears twitching nervously. Then it turned and stared at her. Kestrelpaw cursed soundlessly as the hare made to leap away from danger.

Then she leaped at it, landing a mouse tail's length from it, and smoothly breaking into a run. What was it with her and distances? This was the third time today that she had misjudged a jump and had ended up chasing her unfortunate prey, which had then escaped her with ease. Kestrelpaw wondered if maybe Harepaw had had his hare friend tell all the other animals to be on a look out for a brown apprentice that might be seen snooping around the area. She wouldn't put it past him.

Kestrelpaw knew that the hare would soon be out of her reach if she didn't act quickly. Putting all thoughts of doubt aside, she leaped once again. This time, however, she managed to pin down the hare by its tail. Without hesitation, she bit its neck. Kestrelpaw felt a burst of satisfaction as she picked up the hare and began to carry it back to the camp of the Others. In the Place of the Exiled, one daren't leave one's prey unguarded for fear of it being stolen by another. Kestrelpaw didn't actually know if this was true, but she had been told this by the Others and she didn't want to test the theory.

Ahead of her, she could hear the rushing of the river as it raged on its never-ending way towards wherever it was heading. Kestrelpaw had long since ceased to fear the river. After the first two or three times, she had realised that crossing it was merely a matter of determination and keeping focused. Crossing it with prey in your mouth was, certainly, much harder, but she had managed it the day before yesterday. Kestrelpaw hoped that she would manage it this time, as well.

She plunged into the icy cold river and struck out confidently for the other side, keeping a firm grip upon the hare that was rapidly losing heat. She did her best to keep it above the water, and was pleased to note that so far only the tips of its paws were wet. And a bit of its ears. Kestrelpaw was satisfied with that much, and she continued to plow onwards, ignoring the sharp feeling of a stick that was swept by her on the swift-moving current. Kestrelpaw noted with slight alarm that the current was stronger than it had been yesterday and the day before. She was already drifting further downstream than she had anticipated.

Cursing StarClan for the hundredth time since arriving at the Others, and adding a special curse for WeatherClan, Kestrelpaw hurried towards the river bank on the other side, feeling immense relief when her paws finally touched solid ground. The brown apprentice resisted the urge to sink to the sandy earth in relief, instead marching steadily onwards towards the camp of the Others.

Now that she had her prey secured, Kestrelpaw had time to think about how she could retrieve the 'Star' for WeatherClan. First of all, how exactly was she supposed to get a star in the first place? She would need more information. Unfortunately, the Others were about as secretive as Kestrelpaw judged it possible to be without actually being unable to say anything that was a secret. Kestrelpaw was determined to be back in her own, safe nest in SkyClan by the end of this moon, however. This meant that she would need to discover the whereabouts of the 'Star' within the next day or two, and retrieve it within the next week. She had already been here for just under two weeks, and had just about had enough of this stupid 'if you don't do this, you're dead' nonsense. Kestrelpaw judged that, in the past two weeks, her life had been in danger more times than all the other life-threatening situations she had endured put together.

Perhaps the star was hidden in a place sacred to the Others? That was entirely possible. Maybe it was safeguarded by a dozen huge cats that drank only blood and ate only the hearts of animals. Yes, that sounded suitably vicious. And perhaps it was placed inside a blood-red cave that had stars carved into it.

Or maybe it was concealed in the heart of the camp of the Others, right under her very nose! Kestrelpaw fumed at the very idea. Maybe there was a secret passage to another room in the leader's den, and the star was hidden there. But this didn't make any sense. She would have noticed if there had been a secret passage in Sun's den.

What she hadn't considered, however, was the very obvious fact that a star was actually something in the sky, and a member of StarClan. Therefore, perhaps the Others were holding a member of StarClan captive, to do their bidding? Kestrelpaw liked this idea very much, as it appealed to her sense of imagination and adventure. It would be very heroic indeed to be able to rescue a member of StarClan in peril. Still, the idea wasn't quite as appealing as rushing into a blood-red cave that was surrounded by blood-drinking and heart-eating warriors.

Suddenly, Kestrelpaw paused as a thought occurred to her. What if the 'Star' was a cat? Not a StarClan cat, but a real and living cat, like Kestrelpaw herself? Kestrelpaw thought rapidly over what the WeatherClan cats had told her about the 'Star'. Never had they mentioned that it was an _object_, although they had alluded to that fact. Surely, though, if it was an object, WeatherClan would have found it easy to retrieve it? Kestrelpaw wondered. However, if it was a living creature, a _cat_, then it would be harder. Especially if the cat didn't want to be retrieved. WeatherClan never had said that the 'Star' _wanted_ to come back to WeatherClan, and Kestrelpaw had at first assumed of course that this meant that the 'Star' would be an inanimate object. However, if Kestrelpaw assumed that it was a cat that WeatherClan wanted back, then she didn't doubt that the cat didn't want to go back. Who would want to live with WeatherClan, after all? Kestrelpaw reasoned.

Now that she had reached the conclusion that this must be so, Kestrelpaw was left with the problem of discovering who the cat _was_. They would be keeping well hidden, as surely they must have suspected that Kestrelpaw and her companions were there to retrieve something for WeatherClan. Any dimwit would be suspicious of them. Kestrelpaw wondered whether any of the cats in the Others was actually Star, though. Maybe 'Star' had run away or gone into hiding when she, or he, had realised what Kestrelpaw was there for. It wouldn't surprise her in the least if that was so. That's what Kestrelpaw would have done in Star's place, after all.

But what, Kestrelpaw thought, if Star wasn't a _cat_? What if Star was a talking animal, like the kestrel? Kestrelpaw might have eaten Star without knowing it! The thought made her shudder with revulsion. She might have accidentally doomed herself by eating the thing that she was supposed to bring back to WeatherClan so that she could 'save' her Clan! Kestrelpaw cast a worried look at the hare she was carrying, resulting in her eyes feeling slightly odd as she tried to peer down at her jaws. Maybe the hare was the Star! _Please, StarClan, no_, Kestrelpaw thought in horror.

Kestrelpaw resolved to discuss the matter with Coal later on, when she had gathered her thoughts enough and would be able to provide a reasonably sensible version of what she thought was happening. Sighing, Kestrelpaw started to pad towards the camp again, all the time trying to remember if she had caught any odd prey of late.

When she finally arrived at the camp, and had deposited her hare onto the fresh-kill pile, Kestrelpaw allowed herself a few minutes to lie down in the shade in a corner of the camp and relax. It might be nearly leaf-bare, but that didn't mean that this day wasn't unusually hot. _It feels like green-leaf_, Kestrelpaw thought irritatedly as she licked her paws.

Kestrelpaw surveyed her paws in faint resignation. She had decided that she must be going grey early, as her paws were still a faint grey colour, even after all her persisten lickings and washing of them. It wasn't that she couldn't still see the brown beneath the grey, but it was annoying that she could now make out the grey more easily than she had previously been able to.

Deciding that she was becoming overly vain about her paws, and wondering whether she was going to become one of those cats who spent all their time staring at their reflection in a puddle of water, Kestrelpaw placed her head upon her paws and gazed out upon the camp of the Others. She could see two of the kits, Russet and Thistle, playing near the edge of the camp, squeaking happily when they managed to pounce on one another. Kestrelpaw felt faintly surprised at the innocence of the kits, and then scolded herself for feeling surprised about it. They might be members of the Others, but they were still kits. All kits were the same, in a way, no matter where they were. They were all born with a certain sense of innocence and playfulness. Kestrelpaw almost felt like sighing and thinking about how old she was, but caught herself just in time.

Near the fresh-kill pile, she could see Eagle and another she-cat whose name Kestrelpaw was pretty sure was Vine. Vine was about the same age as Kestrelpaw, give or take a few moons, but she acted like she was about a billion moons older than the brown apprentice. Kestrelpaw's first meeting with Vine had been one that was cold and rather stiff, and things hadn't improved too much over the past week or so. Kestrelpaw had been sorely tempted to play a prank on Vine, but had reminded herself that she was supposed to be mature now, not to mention the fact that she didn't have any of the right ingredients for a more impressive prank.

Pricking her ears up, Kestrelpaw closed her eyes to look as if she was sleeping. Then she concentrated with all her might on the conversation between Eagle and Vine. She may have managed to stop herself from playing a few small pranks, and even arguing with Harepaw, but eavesdropping wasn't something that Kestrelpaw viewed as necessary to stop. You could pick up so many useful things doing that, she had reasoned with herself.

"...only a hare!" Vine was saying in barely suppressed anger. "She claims to be a hunter of her Clan, but she does not see fit to reward our hospitality with more than one piece!"

"Do not forget that these foreigners are merely pampered kittypets compared to us, Vine," Eagle replied in a quiet voice, so quiet that Kestrelpaw had to strain her ears to hear him. "You cannot blame them for not being as able as us when it comes to hunting and fighting."

"I don't have a problem with the other two!" Vine retorted hotly. Even though she couldn't see her, Kestrelpaw was certain that Vine had cast a quick glance around the place to make sure that nobody was listening. Kestrelpaw shut her eyes more tightly, and tried her utmost to feign sleep. Evidently, Vine was satisfied that there was nobody listening, as she continued in a quiet voice. "Our leader may view the strangers with interest and curiosity, but I do not. For all we know, they are spies from another group! Maybe even _Light's_ group!"

There was a pause before Eagle answered, almost as if he was thinking through his answer carefully. When he spoke, his voice was low and menacing. "You dare to object to our leader's choices? You do realise the punishment for such traitorous thinking? If you were not the daughter of my sister, then I would have reported you to our leader already, and you would no longer be here among us."

Kestrelpaw couldn't resist opening her eyes just a little bit, so that they were narrow slits. Vine was looking terrified at Eagle's words, and was hastily backtracking, much to Kestrelpaw's amusement. "...wouldn't, Eagle? I never meant that I disapproved of our leader's decision! I was merely pointing out that perhaps it was not wise..."

Eagle's glare had silenced the young she-cat, who was looking down at her paws in terror. Eagle spoke slowly and quietly in reply, careful to make sure that nobody was listening. Kestrelpaw had to strain her ears, and lean forward as inconspicuously as possible to hear him, and even then she only made out the last few words. "...leader's choice. Now go! I will not subject myself to your traitorous words."

Vine cast an alarmed look around the camp before quickly moving to a corner of the camp that was well hidden in the shadows. Eagle trotted calmly into what Kestrelpaw thought of as one of the two 'warrior' dens that were kept for the especial use of the warrior-aged cats. If she hadn't heard Eagle saying what he had said, she would have thought that there was nothing in the world that was troubling him, and that he was merely looking forward to a small nap.

Sighing, Kestrelpaw looked around for another source of amusement, all the while filing the information she had just overheard into a place in the back of her mind where she could retrieve it if necessary. You never did know what supposedly 'useless' bits of talk could mean.

Her eyes alighted upon Coal, who had literally just returned from a patrol with Shadowheart, the youngest 'warrior' of the Others, and Hawk. The three paused inside the camp for a short while, looking around, and then Hawk and Shadowheart moved off towards the leader's den, leaving Coal alone. Kestrelpaw's eyes narrowed as, after a moment's hesitation, he followed the other two into Sun's den. Kestrelpaw wondered suspiciously what was wrong, and then scolded herself. She shouldn't be so suspicious, especially about a cat that she had done for the better part of three moons!

Nevertheless, there was that irritating little voice that insisted upon piping up in the most inconvenient of circumstances, telling her she was right to be wary of Coal, and anybody, no matter how long she had known them. After all, look at what Sparrowpaw had done! And she had known him her whole life! Not that what he had done was so bad, she thought in retrospect. He had followed what he thought to be the right path. Even the hurtful words he had said weren't so bad, if looked at in another light. Maybe he had been afraid, and had said it because he didn't know what else to say? Kestrelpaw wasn't sure, but decided that, if she ever saw him again, she would allow him to explain his actions and then decide on whether or not to forgive him. She wondered briefly why she had felt so angry at the time. Probably the stress of the moment, she concluded. And how foolish it had been to think that she would never forgive him, ever! Kestrelpaw decided that her mother had been right when she had told Kestrelpaw that Kestrelpaw had a flair for the dramatic sometimes.

Kestrelpaw's green eyes scanned the camp hopefully, looking for any other sign that might yield a clue as to what Coal and the others were discussing in the leader's den, but everything seemed as it usually was. Kestrelpaw harrumphed with irritation, and put her head back on her front paws, her eyes watchful. Here in this corner of the camp, shielded from the glare of the sun, she felt almost drowsy. Her mind flew back to the hot days that she had spent in SkyClan's camp, and she felt a sudden wave of homesickness. She wanted nothing more than to solve this 'mystery' and go back home.

The odd thing was that, although she wanted to return to SkyClan's camp desperately, she knew that, given the chance to go back in time and choose to remain behind with SkyClan, she would choose exactly as she had done. Kestrelpaw wouldn't have missed what had happened in the past few moons since she had left SkyClan's camp, although she still wondered at why this was. Hadn't quite a few horrible things happened since that day of her decision to leave? Yes. Then why did she not regret her choice at all? Deep down, Kestrelpaw knew that it was because of the effect the whole experience had had on her. Sure, she was still immature and reckless and not at all perfect by any standards, but she was glad that she wasn't _as_ immature and reckless as she knew herself to once have been. Although, Kestrelpaw sighed, she was pretty sure that she had become rather dull. The thought saddened her.

Despite herself, and her busy mind, Kestrelpaw felt her eyes start to close sleepily. There was nothing like a good shady patch on a hot day to make her feel lethargic. Her eyes felt rather dry, and this only caused her to want to close her eyes all the more. Letting out a lazy sigh, she snorted at the picture she must make to those that looked on, and then allowed herself to relax.

The moment she felt that she might be able to have a nice nap, Kestrelpaw heard pawsteps in front of her, heading her way. She felt spark of irritation, and screwed her eyelids more tightly shut. Nothing short of the camp being hit by some natural disaster would make her move. Well, she amended, nothing short of a natural disaster and some enemy cats charging in would make her move. Having made this resolution, she allowed herself to breath evenly and deeply like she would have done had she been sleeping. Surely the approaching cat would think twice about waking her? Not even the most discourteous of the Others would disturb a sleeping cat who had already done some reasonably hard work, Kestrelpaw was certain.

"Kestrelpaw, a _kit_ can fake sleep better than that," a rude voice said... well... rudely.

Kestrelpaw snuffled in her 'sleep', and attempted to look as though she was having a very pleasant dream, one that she would not wake up from in any hurry. She relaxed her eyelids slightly, to ensure that she wouldn't look too tight or stiff.

An impatient sigh showed her how well her trickery had worked. "Kestrelpaw, honestly, a _mouse_ can pretend that its dead far better than that."

Still in a state of denial, Kestrelpaw simply snored on. If he wanted her to wake up, then the least he could do was to treat her civilly. As long as he continued to insult her, she would remain motionless as though she was sleeping, and nothing short of a hurricane was going to wake her, of that she was sure.

"Fine. You chose the hard way," a paw prodded her side, hard. When this tactic triggered no response, the paw was brought down hard upon her head in a way reminiscent of the 'old' days in SkyClan's camp when Kestrelpaw had used the same move to punish her opponent for daring to talk to her.

Wincing, Kestrelpaw opened her eyes reluctantly. "What is it, Harepaw?"

A smug look spread across Harepaw's face as he realised that he had won this round. Kestrelpaw oddly found the temptation to attack him very small today. Maybe the heat was too much, and anyway, she didn't see why Harepaw was worth risking her position in the Others' group for. Instead, she put on her best 'I'm-listening' look, and waited for his answer.

"I've just overheard Sun saying that we are to go on a patrol immediately," he said in a lofty voice, his eyes gleaming.

"What sort of patrol?" Kestrelpaw asked, suddenly alarmed. Harepaw wouldn't have come to find her unless he found the patrol very worthy of his attention.

If possible, Harepaw's smug look became even smugger as he spoke. "An offensive patrol. It appears that... ahem... _someone_ accidentally strayed onto Light's territory, and they were most displeased. They have decided that the best thing to do would be to attack us for daring to cross their territory. Oh yes, and it seems that they know it _wasn't_ a usual member of the Others, as the scent was distinctly foreign to their extremely sensitive noses."

Kestrelpaw stared at him in horror. How could he be so calm? This was a disaster! And she hadn't even figured out where or what the 'Star' was! Suddenly, the impulse to strike Harepaw increased tenfold. How dare he just stand there looking pleased with himself when she had just put her life in jeopardy! Through her own stupidity, no less. Kestrelpaw felt furious at herself as she leapt to her feet with such haste that she felt momentarily dizzy at the sudden rush of blood to her head.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Kestrelpaw snapped at the offending apprentice, who looked surprised at the venom in her voice.

"No need to bite my head off," Harepaw said in an uncharacteristically mild voice, before padding off towards where Kestrelpaw could now see about half a dozen cats standing in front of Sun, all looking serious and angry at the same time. When they spotted Kestrelpaw coming towards them, all of their eyes narrowed and glared furiously at her.

"I believe you caused this!" Sun whirled around to face Kestrelpaw as the brown apprentice paused at her side. The leader's black eyes were like fiery orbs of black fire as they gazed at the younger she-cat.

"Yes," Kestrelpaw bowed her head in an appropriate show of shame, although inside she felt more angry than ashamed. And all the anger was directed at herself. Just when she had thought she was finally maturing just the teensiest bit, she had to make a blunder like this!

"You will go on the patrol, and if you lose the fight, know that you will not be allowed to return -" Kestrelpaw's ears twitched in suppressed horror at this - "And your friend over there – Harepaw – will go, too. He must learn that this is a serious matter," any pleasure that Kestrelpaw might have felt at this criticism of Harepaw was banished with the thought of not being allowed to return here, and thus effectively exiling herself to WeatherClan's territory. Kestrelpaw was pretty sure that Coal and Harepaw, should they survive the oncoming slaughter ( she had no doubt it would be a tough battle ) would be able to save SkyClan, or at least discover who and what the Star was, so Kestrelpaw's current concern was more for herself. Before she could dwell on it too long, however, she heard Sun bark a sharp dismissal and heard the rest of the 'patrol' start to head rapidly towards the threat to their territory.

Kestrelpaw followed the patrol with a sinking heart. She counted the cats in front of her, and was dismayed to find that there were only seven, not counting herself. Leopard, Eagle, a tom that she knew to be called Jay, a tom called Snake, Eagle's brother ( Kestrelpaw had forgotten his name ), and Vine, the oldest apprentice-aged cat in the Others' camp that had been born there. Then there was Harepaw. Only seven. Kestrelpaw hoped fervently that there weren't too many cats for them to fight. StarClan knew that Kestrelpaw wasn't the best fighter in the world, to say the least.

And then Kestrelpaw realised something. Sun was leading the patrol. Why hadn't she noticed her before? That made eight cats. Better, but not nearly as many as Kestrelpaw thought would be enough. Kestrelpaw shrugged off the feeling that she had been right when she had originally thought Sun _wasn't_ there. Kestrelpaw must have been feeling a little disoriented or something, that was all.

Still thinking about this strange appearance, Kestrelpaw raced onwards. She felt the ground change slightly under her paws as it gave way to a softer, earthier ground. Kestrelpaw wondered whether she would survive this battle, and thought of the horrible consequences if she didn't. Even if she did, and the battle was lost, the consequences were equally as horrible. What if WeatherClan denied her entrance to StarClan even if she did die in battle? The thought was too terrifying to contemplate.

Her paw sank into a puddle or something similar, much to her annoyance. Without pausing to look down, Kestrelpaw freed her paw and dashed into the forest that she had hunted in less than three hours ago. She weaved as rapidly as she could in and out of the trees, given her speed and her minimal skill at doing so when reaching high speeds. Kestrelpaw heard Harepaw's faint pawsteps just ahead of her, and tried to be as silent as he was being. It annoyed her to no end that he excelled at this particular 'skill', but she pushed the thought out of her mind for the moment. She could seeth over it later, if there was a later.

So deep was she in her thoughts, and so fast was she trying to run, that Kestrelpaw almost bowled over Harepaw when he came to an abrupt stop. She opened her mouth to hiss out a question, but stopped herself as she saw that everybody else in the patrol had also halted their mad dash through the forest. They had all dropped into crouches, and a few of them had moved off into seemingly random directions, moving in a half-crouch. Kestrelpaw hastily dropped to a crouch herself as she tried to fathom why they had stopped so suddenly.

She didn't have to wait long for her answer. Barely five seconds after she had dropped into a crouch, Kestrelpaw heard the lightest of movements upon the forest floor, and became aware that a cat was moving past her. Slowly, hardly daring to move a muscle, Kestrelpaw turned her head very slightly, in the hope that she could see whoever was passing by her.

A dark shape walked stealthily past the brown apprentice, missing Kestrelpaw by a few mere whisker-lengths. Kestrelpaw marveled at the fact that she hadn't yet been noticed. Surely the cat would have at least smelt her? It seemed not.

There was the tiniest of rustles on the other side of the dark shape, and a shadowy figure launched itself at the shape. Kestrelpaw managed to hurl herself to one side before she was crushed by the weight of the two cats, and then resumed her crouching position as if she had never left it. She wouldn't attack until the order was given, of that she assured herself. She glanced briefly to where she had last seen the two fighting cats, and realised with a sickening jolt that the passer-by had been effectively dealt with, Place of the Exiled style. The attacker of the passer-by was now crouched down near the dead cat, ears pricked forwards alertly. If Kestrelpaw strained her eyes enough, she could just make out the over-large ears of Snake.

Another dark shape, barely visible against the even darker shadows of this part of the forest, was creeping past. Kestrelpaw suddenly realised why the 'invaders' had chosen this part of the forest to come through. It was undoubtedly the darkest part of the Others' territory that Kestrelpaw had been in so far – the Others' territory was very big – and was perfect if you wanted to ensure that you would get passed undetected. If Kestrelpaw hadn't been looking for the shadowy shapes, then she would have missed them. She wondered briefly how Sun had even known that the trespassers were in this part of the territory, and decided it was probably a guess, although this was hard to believe when it was Sun that Kestrelpaw was thinking about. Sun didn't make hasty decisions based on guesses.

Kestrelpaw felt another pelt brush her side for an instant, and almost jumped in alarm. The cat was gone within the next moment, and she saw Snake attack that next passer-by, biting the neck so that the attacked cat didn't have a chance to raise the alarm. Kestrelpaw wasn't sure how much longer this would work, however. Sooner or later, and Kestrelpaw was inclined to think it was sooner, an enemy cat would realise that their invading party was missing several of its cats, and then the battle would be started. She saw another shape soar towards another passer-by, and recognised the faint scent of Leopard as the second-in-command bit into the neck of the trespasser. However, this time a half-choked cry issued from the throat of the victim, and there was a sudden uproar as the invaders realised they were being attacked.

It was as if someone had jumped into an otherwise still lake, causing a great splash and disturbing everything within the lake and around it. Kestrelpaw felt rather than heard the rest of the Others jumping to their feet and attacking the invaders, this time without a care for how much noise they made. Kestrelpaw hung back for a split second, uncertain as to whether or not she should fight, and then she leapt at the nearest trespasser, a large brown and white tom with snarling yellow fangs.

Being smaller than him gave her one, unexpected advantage: she could go underneath his neck. Kestrelpaw may have spent merely two weeks in the Place of the Exiled, but that time had not been wasted. She didn't hesitate as she bit into his neck, nor did she allow him to throw her off as he spun rapidly in an attempt to fling her away from him. Kestrelpaw only tightened her grip on his throat, and sank her teeth in further. Then she felt the tom weaken and she leaped back from him, blood on her tongue. Later on, she would shudder with disgust at the detachedness that she felt as she watched the tom collapse, and then rushed off to find another opponent. At that moment, however, all that mattered was that she had to survive, no matter what. Kestrelpaw knew that this was no time for hesitating, or mercy. The trespassers had taken it upon themselves to invade, and they had known that they would not be able to return to their territory without some sort of battle.

Kestrelpaw charged head first at a bright red she-cat, knocking the cat over with the force of her head-butt. Before her opponent could recover from the surprise of the attack, Kestrelpaw attempted to claw the she-cat's belly. Unfortunately for Kestrelpaw, the she-cat she was facing had many more moons of experience in fighting than the brown apprentice, and leapt to her feet before Kestrelpaw had even managed to get her claws anywhere near the red she-cat. Then the brown apprentice found herself lying on the ground, the red she-cat on top of her, her yellow eyes glinting maliciously.

Kestrelpaw flung her paws wildly in the direction of her opponent, by mere chance scratching at the red she-cat's face and left leg. The momentary distraction was just enough for Kestrelpaw to toss her opponent off her, and regain her feet. The red she-cat didn't stay distracted long, though. She rushed at Kestrelpaw, swerving at the last moment so that she came at Kestrelpaw's flank rather than Kestrelpaw's face. The brown apprentice, unprepared for such a change in direction, allow herself to be clawed for a moment before regaining her wits and slashing out at the red she-cat.

The red she-cat leapt nimbly away from Kestrelpaw's claws, and the two she-cats circled each other, glaring at one another with loathing, both trying to find a weak spot in the other's defence. This continued for several seconds, until Kestrelpaw grew tired of waiting, and lashed out at the red she-cat. This proved to be a mistake, however, as in the split second that Kestrelpaw balanced on only three legs, the red she-cat ducked her opponent's swipe and knocked Kestrelpaw onto her side. Kestrelpaw hastily jumped back onto her feet before the red she-cat got another chance to claw the brown apprentice's belly, and they resumed their circling.

This time, Kestrelpaw was more patient as she eyed her opponent's moves. She wasn't going to act recklessly this time, she promised herself. No, she would wait and see, wait for her chance to get at her opponent. The apprentice was only faintly aware of the battle that was raging on either side of her, all of her attention was focused upon the red she-cat that standing in front of her.

And then the red she-cat struck, knocking Kestrelpaw onto her back once more, and raising her claws for the fatal blow. Kestrelpaw was shocked at how she could have failed to see this attack coming, and struggled futilely to escape from her predicament. The claws of the red she-cat began their downward swipe, and Kestrelpaw ceased to struggle, resigning herself in that instant to her inevitable fate. She felt the bitter taste of defeat in her mouth, and wondered at whether her tale would be told in future elders' tales now. She somehow doubted it.

The opponent's claws where a mere whisker's length from her throat now. Kestrelpaw looked up at the red she-cat with a mixture of terror and anger as the red she-cat's face took on an almost gloating look. Kestrelpaw swore that, if she ever was allowed in StarClan, she would haunt this cat until the cat herself passed on to wherever cats who didn't believe in StarClan went.

And then the she-cat's gloating look changed to one of surprise as she was knocked away from Kestrelpaw by a dark shape. Kestrelpaw stared at the leaves of the tree above her for a stunned second, and then leapt to her feet to see where her opponent had gone. The red she-cat was now busy fighting a dark shape that Kestrelpaw knew was one of her allies, although she wasn't sure who. She knew that she should be helping the others to fight the invaders, but she couldn't resist trying to see who had saved her. Kestrelpaw crept forward, alert for any opponents heading her way, and squinted through the gloom to try to better make out the cat that had knocked the red she-cat away from her.

Kestrelpaw froze for a split second as she recognised the cat. Shadowheart. But he hadn't been on the patrol! Kestrelpaw was certain of that. Looking around wildly, she recognised two or three other cats that she knew hadn't been on the patrol. They must have been sent as reinforcements at the last moment, Kestrelpaw thought.

As she was watching, she saw the red she-cat leap away into the bushes, yelling for a retreat. The rest of Light's group that remained alive and were well enough to follow her, dashed after the red she-cat. Before the last of them had even disappeared from sight, six of the Others broke away from the rest of the group and gave chase, Sun among them, with a hasty order to Leopard to 'get rid' of the bodies.

At the word 'bodies' Kestrelpaw's blood seemed to freeze. She turned almost as if in a dream and searched for the tom that she fought. When she located his dead body, she felt a rush of horror. What had she done? No! This couldn't be true! It was some awful joke. Another mean trick of WeatherClan's. Kestrelpaw crept over to the body, repulsed by what she had done.

When she reached the tom, she stared down at him blankly for a moment. Then, unable to think of anything better to do, she pressed her nose into his fur and murmured. "StarClan, if you're there, and if you judge him worthy of another chance, take him into your ranks. Please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Kestrelpaw closed her eyes as she continued, her nose still pressed into the fur of her enemy, although this time she was speaking more to the dead cat than to StarClan. "I hope that you had a conscience, and that you were one of those who was born here and didn't come here through your own actions. If you did have a conscience, I know that StarClan will help you."

There were pawsteps behind her, but Kestrelpaw refused to budge. A half-angry, half-confused voice cut through her silent 'vigil'. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sending a prayer to StarClan for him," Kestrelpaw replied, her eyes still closed. It was the least she could do, as it was her fault that he and all the others had died. The others. Kestrelpaw muttered one last prayer for the tom that she had killed, and then moved onto the cat next to him. She began a similar kind of prayer for that cat too. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next. There were only six dead, and Kestrelpaw found it odd that none of them were cats from the Others. She filed this away for future reference as she finished her prayer for the last cat.

"They are enemies!" snapped the same cat who had interrupted her vigil for the enemy tom. This time, Kestrelpaw deigned to look up and see who was addressing her. She noticed that there were actually two cats who were staring at her. Harepaw and Shadowheart. This annoyed her to no end, and she half wondered whether they deserved an explanation for her strange behaviour.

"They were still of the same species as us," Kestrelpaw pointed out haughtily, adding. "And it was my fault that any of them died this day. I wanted to make sure that they at least had a _chance_ of starting over."

"You think your stupid StarClan is going to do that for you?" Shadowheart retorted angrily. "Well think again! They did nothing for any of us, and they won't do anything for _them_."

Kestrelpaw drew herself up to her full height, but before she could make a suitably huffity, and dignified, reply, Harepaw cut in. "Leave her alone! She just did what she thought was right, and it would do you good to show the same respect to those you have fought in battle!"

Kestrelpaw let out a long breath in disbelief as she stared at Harepaw. Shadowheart looked between the two of them in disgust, and made to leave them alone, clearly angry. Before he was more than a few pawsteps away, though, Kestrelpaw decided that she might as well be on reasonably good terms with everyone today, and fighting whilst there were cats that had just died was not respectful.

"Wait! I forgot to thank you," Kestrelpaw called after Shadowheart, and Harepaw looked at her in astonishment, mouthing the words _What for?_. Kestrelpaw ignored her companion, instead watching as Shadowheart froze in his tracks and rounded on her with furious eyes.

"For what?" Shadowheart demanded, his eyes almost literally shooting sparks.

"For fighting that red she-cat. I don't suppose you meant to, but you did save my life... so... I'm in your debt, I suppose," Kestrelpaw said nonchalantly, causing Harepaw's eyes to grow round with stunned disbelief as he looked from one to the other. Evidently, he seemed to be unable to fathom her reasons for thanking the tom who had just insulted her, and seemed decided that he would be better off not knowing.

Shadowheart seemed momentarily surprised, and then stalked off in high dudgeon. The moment Shadowheart was out of earshot, Harepaw chuckled slightly, stretching and wrinkling his nose at the smell of the dead bodies as he said to Kestrelpaw. "Come on, Sun said to get rid of them. We might as well bury a few."

Kestrelpaw nodded, and they both dragged the nearest body away from the rest so that they could bury it away from where the 'battle' had taken place. Neither were quite sure why they didn't want to just bury it where the battle had been, but they both silently agreed that it was somehow preferable to be buried where your life hadn't been taken. They weren't sure whether the cats they were burying would have had the same ideas had they lived, but the two apprentices thought that their dead enemies wouldn't mind too much.

It took Harepaw and Kestrelpaw about three or four hours before they had finished burying just the one cat, and then they went back to discover that all the other bodies had been taken away. This displeased Kestrelpaw very much, as she was sure that the Others wouldn't have the same respect for their enemies as she did. Shadowheart had proved that much. Kestrelpaw wasn't quite sure why she felt the need to be respectful towards those that had been just as willing to kill her and her friends, but she somehow felt that, maybe, they all could have been 'good' if they had had a proper chance. Kestrelpaw wondered how many _had_ had a proper chance, and this thought considerably saddened her. A few, she supposed, but she knew that most had actually been born here. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be _born_ in this place. Although, it wasn't as bad as some let on, she thought, so long as you knew the right cats and were in the right group.

"Come on, Kestrelpaw. We can't stay here all day," Harepaw said with a touch of impatience, staring irritatedly at Kestrelpaw as she stood at the place where the battle had been with a look of deep thought.

"Hmm? Oh... okay. You're right," Kestrelpaw nodded vaguely, and she padded after Harepaw as he trotted in the direction of the Others' camp. Kestrelpaw lifted her feet carefully as she picked her way around the roots of the trees. She wondered that she hadn't tripped when she had rushed this way to intercept the trespassers. Kestrelpaw desperately wished that she could have somehow gone back in time and warned herself not to go anywhere near the group of Light's territory.

"We're lucky," Harepaw observed as he swerved suddenly to the right. Kestrelpaw looked up in confusion as Harepaw began to do a huge loop so that they ended up further from the camp than they had originally been.

"What in StarClan's name are you doing?" Kestrelpaw exclaimed as she was forced to leap over a log to keep up with Harepaw. It crossed her mind to just go her own way, but curiosity kept her following him. There had to be a reason for him doing this.

"Quiet!" Harepaw hissed, dropping into a crouch in between a bush and a tree, so that he was rendered almost invisible. Kestrelpaw hastily made her way over to where he was and dropped into a crouch beside him, wondering why he was doing this.

A thought occurred to her, and she peered ahead into the gloom. Night was coming and it was far darker than it usually was, so dark that she could barely make out anything more than a few feet in front of her. But she could hear well, as the night seemed to do away with the few noises that could be heard in the Place of the Exiled during daytime.

Kestrelpaw strained her ears forwards, wondering if perhaps there was another cat ahead of her. She felt a faint twinge of guilt at the thought that she might well be eavesdropping once again, but shoved it away. This was no time to dwell on manners. For all she knew, Harepaw might be in league with her enemies and he had brought her here so that they could all kill her! The chilling though did its work well, as it instantly banished all thoughts of politeness from her mind.

"...the newcomers are...you think...popular amongst us...not ready for acceptance?" a voice was saying quietly, so quietly that Kestrelpaw had trouble hearing the words at all.

"You are right... one...our ways well...loyalty is not doubted...belongs to us," a second voice answered the first, equally as quietly. Kestrelpaw's fur prickled on the back of her neck as she listened to the two voices. Who were they? She was certain that she knew who they were. She had to know! They were members of the Others, after all... weren't they?

"...two?... ready...especially the one with those eyes...I remember those eyes... too well...betrayed...trusted her...but let us not...things," the first voice again, getting closer to where Kestrelpaw and Harepaw were crouching. Kestrelpaw's fur prickled again. Eyes. There was only one cat who had odd eyes, as far as she knew. Sun. Kestrelpaw leaned forwards ever-so-slightly so that she could hear better.

"...innocent enough...suspect a thing...not a secret for long, though...they will find out about -" the second voice began to say, but was cut off angrily by the first voice.

"...I know...they will find...won't they? Star...no doubt...told them...told them lies," the first voice hissed, the tone furious. Kestrelpaw could almost imagine the owner of the first voice turning on the owner of the second voice, tail lashing.

"...can't do anything, though, can we?" the second voice said calmly, and suddenly Kestrelpaw imagined the black and red patched fur of Leopard, the second-in-command. She knew now who the second voice was. But who was the first?

"Be quiet, you two!" another voice cut through the darkness, startling both Harepaw and Kestrelpaw so badly that they almost gave away their positions. It took Kestrelpaw a moment to realise that the voice was not referring to herself and Harepaw, but rather to Leopard and the other cat. And she recognised this voice, too. Shadowheart.

There was a pause, and then Leopard broke the silence with an angry hiss. "Don't you dare to speak that way! You forget your place!"

Another pause, during which Kestrelpaw could almost see Shadowheart's angry face and bowed head as he thought through his possible responses to the second-in-command's words. She felt rather than saw Harepaw lean forward slightly, as if eager to see the faces of the voices. Kestrelpaw wasn't nearly so eager.

"...let us...must leave...," the first voice said peaceably, and Kestrelpaw held her breath as the three cats walked literally a few feet away from where she and Harepaw were hiding. None of them seemed to notice, however, as they were all intent upon their discussion. They were now talking in such low voices that Kestrelpaw could only make out one or two words, and even then it was difficult. Soon the three cats had disappeared into the forest, not leaving a trace behind them. Kestrelpaw continued to breath as shallowly as she possibly could, fearing that any moment someone might realise she was there and attack her.

"Let's go," Harepaw's quiet voice beside her almost made Kestrelpaw jump. She rose cautiously to her feet and began to move as silently as she possibly could in the direction of the camp of the Others. She had barely moved more than a few feet when Harepaw's voice cut through the silent air again. "Not that way, idiot! We have to be at the camp before them, or they'll get suspicious. Come on, if we hurry we can make it."

Without another word, Harepaw shot forwards, his paws making next to no sound at all on the soft forest floor. Kestrelpaw never ceased to marvel at the fact that the Place of the Exiled held so many different terrains. Just a few minutes ago, the ground had been rock hard. Pushing such irrelevant thoughts out of her head, she tried her best to follow the path that Harepaw was taking, and found it increasingly difficult. Eventually, she actually lost track of where he had been. Kestrelpaw didn't hesitate, though, as she charged forwards, weaving in and out of the trees. If Harepaw chose not to come back for her, then that was fine by her. She could find her way around the place just as well as he could, she was sure, and it was her fault that she hadn't kept up with him int he first place.

It didn't take her long to find his trail again, though, and Kestrelpaw didn't slow down when she realised that she was on the 'right' track again. It wasn't long after that that she caught up with the maker of the trail himself.

Harepaw didn't even glance backwards at her, although he must have known that she was following close behind him once again. Instead he splashed across a small stream and then turned sharply to the left. Kestrelpaw followed with only a trace of doubt. If she had to, she could find her own way back to the camp, of that she had no doubt.

Then, quite suddenly, they burst out into a long stretch of grassland. Even then Harepaw didn't stop, only taking advantage of the open ground to pick up speed. Kestrelpaw dashed after him, wondering where on earth he was going. He had said that he was going back to the camp, but if this was a shortcut, then she was a mouse! She had no doubt that Leopard, Shadowheart and the other cat had already reached camp by now. Maybe Harepaw was trying to play some sort of trick on her? Kestrelpaw wouldn't put it past him.

And then, to her astonishment, she saw the large trees that marked the camp of the Others up ahead. She hastily began to run faster, her lungs bursting with the effort. The trees were getting nearer and nearer. It had never occurred to her that there might be another way to reach the camp that didn't involve crossing the river... but that was odd. Kestrelpaw could have sworn that it was an island that the camp of the Others was on. Maybe she was wrong.

Harepaw slowed down as he reached the edge of the trees that marked the camp of the Others. He whirled around to face her. "If you dare tell anybody the route I used to get to the camp, I'll personally make your life a living version of the Dark Forest."

Kestrelpaw froze for an instant, and then regained her wits enough to make a sharp retort. "If you didn't want me to tell everyone, then you shouldn't have shown me, should you? But what's done is done, and we shouldn't waste any more time arguing."

Kestrelpaw marched towards the camp, ignoring Harepaw's furious look. She had no doubt that eventually he would come to his senses and then she would talk to him about how he had known those three cats were there and how he knew about the 'other' way to get to the camp. Until then, she would simply ignore him or at least treat him to cold looks. That usually worked nowadays.

"You won't tell, will you?" Harepaw said as he hurried after her. It was more a statement than a question, and Kestrelpaw felt a spark of irritation at the way he naturally assumed that she wouldn't tell. Then she wondered why she had snapped back at him if that was so. Kestrelpaw sighed, and promised herself that she would get a good sleep the next night.

"No, I won't. Great StarClan!" Kestrelpaw suddenly exclaimed as they stepped into the almost silent camp. She glanced around the camp, sniffed the air, and then whispered. "You were right. We beat them here."

Harepaw put on his best superior look, and then trotted off towards the den that was reserved for the apprentice-aged cats, saying smugly. "Told you so."

Kestrelpaw sighed as she followed him into the den. She glanced around as she counted the dark shapes that lay sleeping in the den. Five. That was all the members of the Others. Kestrelpaw curled up in her own nest that was set at the far corner of the den, and wondered briefly where Coal was. Then she remembered that he had been on guard duty this night. Coal was becoming more and more involved with the camp duties, whether it be patrolling, hunting, fighting, or simply guarding. She wished that she had his easygoing nature. Not that she thought that she had a _difficult_ nature, but still...

"Harepaw," she whispered suddenly.

"What is it?" Harepaw answered irritatedly, having clearly just been about to go to sleep.

"Tomorrow, you're going to owe me an explanation," Kestrelpaw replied, and closed her eyes. She could hear Harepaw grumbling about how annoying she-cats were and wondering why he put up with them. Kestrelpaw ignored the grumbles as best she could, instead wondering about what she had heard tonight.

And then she remembered something. Coal wasn't on guard duty. That would be tomorrow night. Kestrelpaw felt a moment's panic as she thought of all the different fates that could have befallen her friend, and then realised that none of the Others would probably have done him any harm. They respected him, and their leader's decision, too much for that. Still, Kestrelpaw still felt uneasy as she drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would try to find the answer to where Coal had been, _and_ how Harepaw had found out that those three cats would be in that part of the forest.

**Unlike my last chapter, this chapter did actually have a point. This chapter was necessary in the process of the story ( or at least, I like to think it is ). And I have to say that, so far, I enjoyed writing this chapter the most out of all the chapters I've written so far in the story. Sure, Kestrelpaw isn't half as prank-y as she was, but I don't mind that too much myself. I don't know about my reviewers though... anyone?**


	19. Forest

**Finally the 19th chapter is out! I can't believe it! Already on chapter 19? Golly...(which is a really old-fashioned thing to say, but...)**

Forest

When Kestrelpaw finally woke up and padded out into the camp clearing, the sun was streaming down merrily through the branches of the huge trees above her. Birds were chirping happily, and, very far away, Kestrelpaw could faintly hear the sound of the large river churning and rushing on its way.

She stood there for a moment, trying to remember why she had woken up with a feeling that she had some unfinished business. Kestrelpaw ran her mind over what had happened the previous day: the patrol, the fight, the burying of the dead... aha! And the eavesdropping. That was it. She had to find Harepaw and demand to know how he had known the three cats would be there at that particular time, and why he had dragged along Kestrelpaw. Yes. Quite so, Kestrelpaw thought with a momentary burst of indignation.

Having this goal in her mind helped her to wake herself up properly. Kestrelpaw scanned the camp for her unfortunate victim, and, finding that he was absent, decided that a bite of food wouldn't hurt her before she started to search for him more seriously. Maybe Sun wouldn't notice her stealing a piece of prey before hunting, Kestrelpaw mused as she shiftily looked around and crept towards the fresh-kill pile. Surely even Sun would be too busy to notice just one piece of prey missing.

"Kestrelpaw! What, in the name of Light, are you doing?" a sharp voice snapped behind her. Kestrelpaw almost squeaked in surprise, and whirled around to face her accuser.

"I am...," Kestrelpaw thought rapidly for a good explanation of her creeping pose. "I am practising hunting... because I thought it might be worthwhile to... um... become more skilled at... hunting."

"Oh, really?" said the sharp-voiced brown she-cat standing in front of her. Her tone was disbelieving, and her brown eyes were sharp and alert as she scanned the camp for what Kestrelpaw was seeking.

"Yes, Vine," Kestrelpaw said in her best 'leader' voice. Steeling herself, she sharpened her gaze and glared coldly at the other she-cat. "So I would suggest you go and pick on someone your own size."

Vine stared at Kestrelpaw in obvious amusement, her tail flicking back and forth rhythmically. "If you haven't noticed, _leader_, you're about the same size as me. Possibly just a bit smaller. But that's not the point. I do believe that you were about to sneak a piece of prey from under our noses. Nice try, but you might want to practise your stealth a bit more. Next time, I'll report you to Sun."

Kestrelpaw opened her mouth to say something rather stupid, and then she stopped herself. No, she must be smarter. Searching over her opponent's words, she found what she wanted, and attacked her verbally. "_Sun_? You do realise the penalty for referring to your leader by her name, unless given express permission? Maybe _I'll_ report you to _her_, and we'll see how you like that! Now, if you don't mind, I think my hunting skills are perfected enough to go hunting for real. And next time you accuse me of doing such a petty thing, you'll regret it."

Not waiting for Vine's reply, Kestrelpaw trotted off in the direction of the river, fuming. How dare that puny little juvenile threaten _her_? She, who was part of a mission to save her Clan! She, who had faced far more than that little brown turd would ever face! Kestrelpaw paused briefly as she correct herself. Little brown piece of fox dung. Yes, that sounded good. She resumed walking.

Now, where in StarClan's name was Harepaw? Had he scampered away like his namesake, frightened of being discovered? Kestrelpaw took immense pleasure in that thought, and then reminded herself of the downsides of that. If he had run away, she would hunt for him, oh yes she would! Kestrelpaw wondered what she would do to him if she found him. Rake his fur off? No, too bloodthirsty. Call him names? Well, that went without saying. Attack him? Perhaps, but restrain from raking fur too much. Invoke WeatherClan's name? Yes, that sounded wonderful.

A loud rushing noise greeted her, and Kestrelpaw glanced down absent-mindedly. She had reached the river. Kestrelpaw took a deep breath and plunged into the icy cold river, swimming across confidently, her mind still on Harepaw's punishments. Perhaps something more was called for, this time? Hmm. What else could she possibly do to him? She still found the idea of raking most of his fur off quite appealing. Then she scolded herself for thinking in such a cruel, bloodthirsty manner as she reached the other side of the river, shook herself to get rid of some of the water weighing down her pelt, and entered the forest.

Just as she had finally settled on a punishment for his deserting their mission (sharpening her claws on a rock and then raking half his fur off, whilst invoking WeatherClan's name and call him rude names) she spotted him. Disappointed that she wouldn't get to carry out her chosen punishment, Kestrelpaw sighed and wandered over to where Harepaw was crouched, eyes glaring malevolently into the forest.

Kestrelpaw crept up behind him, wondering what he was glaring at so angrily. Her ears pricked up and her eyes peered forward into the gloom, trying to pick out what the cause of his sudden freeze was. Her eyes landed upon a harmless looking mouse, and she sighed in relief, albeit quietly.

"Ahem," Kestrelpaw coughed softly, and Harepaw whirled around as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. His bristling fur only served to make this description seem more apt.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled, eyes darting around to see if she was alone. When he found that there were no other cats behind her, he relaxed slightly. Shaking himself, as if to get rid of an annoying bug, he muttered irritatedly. "I thought you were Coal."

Kestrelpaw snorted disbelievingly, whilst vaguely wondering why Harepaw would have reacted so viciously if he thought it was _Coal_. Maybe the two had had some kind of disagreement. It wouldn't surprise her at all. Realising that she hadn't yet made some smart – or sharp – retort to what he had said, she drew herself up to her full height and said in as haughty, disparaging a tone as she could manage. "Yeah, right. I don't look anything like him. More likely, you thought I was that horrible Vine. I can't believe that I have the misfortune of sharing the same pelt colour as her. Disgusting, she is."

"What did she do?" Harepaw asked absent-mindedly, looking around for something. Satisfied that whatever he was looking for wasn't there, he turned back to look at Kestrelpaw. "Well?" he prompted.

"Ack, she just caught me about to take a piece of prey from the fresh-kill pile. I dealt with her," Kestrelpaw sighed, licking her paws as she sat down and feeling slightly nettled that Harepaw hadn't reacted with venom. Then she remembered her purpose for seeking Harepaw out in the first place. "And I demand to know why you dragged me along last night, and how you knew where those cats would be."

"I saw them leaving the clearing. They weren't going in the direction of the camp, and I figured that must mean something. And you were the only cat I could take along with me that wasn't one of _them_," he emphasised the word meaningfully, not hesitating to answer her question. If she hadn't known him better, she would have thought he was telling the truth. _No, no,_ Kestrelpaw scolded herself, _he's one of your only 'allies' here. You must learn to think better of him._

"What about Coal?" Kestrelpaw demanded, her ears pricked up in anticipation of a lie despite her firm scolding to herself. It was a habit, she realised with an inward sigh. For so long had she distrusted Harepaw and argued with him that it was difficult to be cordial to him. But she was improving, she noted – partly in satisfaction, partly in surprise.

"He wasn't there," Harepaw said nonchalantly. Then he abruptly turned away and began to head away from where Kestrelpaw was sitting. "I'm going hunting."

Not one to be shrugged off so easily, Kestrelpaw decided to pester him some more. Something didn't ring true in his explanation, in her opinion. She was determined to make him tell her the whole truth. Or else. As she rapidly followed him, two sides of her mind were warring with each other. On the one paw, it was habit not to trust him – on the other paw, it was the rational part of her mind urging her that he wouldn't lie when the situation was so serious.

"What did they mean, do you think?" Kestrelpaw said, catching up with him. She firmly told the two warring sides of her mind to 'shut up' until she had some piece and quiet to think over her choices.

"How'm I supposed to know?" Harepaw grunted in response, clearly not at all thrilled to be talking to Kestrelpaw. Kestrelpaw may have been deciding to become more cordial towards Harepaw, but clearly the same couldn't be said for the tom.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" Kestrelpaw insisted, staring at him through narrowed eyes in an attempt to make him feel guilty – just in case he wasn't telling her the truth. Which he might be, she reminded herself.

"No," he said curtly, and continued on his way. He wished that he hadn't involved her in this. She was incredibly annoying. Why couldn't she just let the subject drop? Or was she really dim enough that she couldn't see that he didn't want to talk about this?

"Yes there is!" Kestrelpaw said persistently, hoping to goad him into telling her. Harepaw had a hot enough temper as it was. He wouldn't be able to hold out long if she kept on asking for more information. Sure, he might storm away. But there was always the off chance that he might decide to take it out on her verbally, and then he could accidentally let something slip.

"No there isn't!"

"Is!"

"Liar!"

"No, you're the one not telling the truth!" Kestrelpaw said sternly, unable to resist sparring with him, but Harepaw just kept on moving. There had to be something that she could say to make him tell her. Hmm. Kestrelpaw's mind whirred frantically as she thought over all his weaknesses.

"I _am_ telling the truth! So there!" Harepaw retorted furiously, unaware of the crafty thoughts that were flying through Kestrelpaw's mind.

"Hmph. I bet you _Whitepaw_ would tell me the truth. He was always better than you, anyway. More honest," Kestrelpaw said, then immediately felt a sharp stab of guilt. Despite the brothers' closeness, Whitepaw had always overshadowed Harepaw slightly. She had never _heard_ Harepaw complain about this, but she knew Harepaw well enough to know that he disliked being overshadowed, and, what's more, he disliked being compared to his brother.

Harepaw froze. Slowly, he turned around and glared at her. Kestrelpaw felt another, sharper stab of remorse. Oh, she had hit upon a sore spot all right. She had the sense to retrace her last two or three steps, and inconspicuously unsheathe her claws in case he decided that he would like a fight.

_Oh, why did I have to say that?_ Kestrelpaw silently bemoaned her choice of words. Couldn't she have just kept her mouth closed, for once in her life?

"Take. That. Back," Harepaw hissed, saying each word slowly and carefully, as if he wanted to make sure that their meanings were not lost upon Kestrelpaw.

"It's true," Kestrelpaw said automatically, then bit her tongue. _Great StarClan, what is it with me! Think before you say anything else, Kestrelpaw. You mustn't start another fight. Apologise like mad, Kestrelpaw. Say anything! No, wait, don't! Think before you speak, you idiot._

"No, it isn't," Harepaw growled irately.

"I-" Kestrelpaw began apologetically, hoping to be allowed the time to apologise for her words.

"_Not_," Harepaw said angrily before she could finish, storming towards her until there was a mere whisker-length between their noses. Kestrelpaw resisted the urge to shrink back a bit. She didn't want an all-out confrontation. All she had wanted was the truth. She sighed inwardly at the thought of the lengths she would go to gain it. Again, she cursed herself silently for being stupid enough to provoke Harepaw into anger.

To herself, Kestrelpaw thought silently, _Your breath stinks, Harepaw. No! No! I didn't think that. Please, StarClan, forgive me for what I have done_. Out loud, she said apologetically. "Fine. I'm sorry. But you still haven't told me the truth." That had come out wrong. She had meant to sound more sincere than _that_. Oh, this was a horrible day for her. Kestrelpaw felt slightly sorry for herself, until she remembered that it had all been her fault. Maybe she needed to take lessons on how to persuade someone to tell her something without getting them angry.

"You don't deserve to know it," Harepaw said sulkily, continuing on his way through the forest now that he had been placated. Or, at least, Kestrelpaw hoped that he was sufficiently anger-free to continue their conversation. Not that it had been much of a conversation.

"No, I don't," Kestrelpaw said agreeably, trying a different approach to the subject whilst berating herself for not making the apology sound more sincere and heartfelt.

"If you think that's supposed to win me over, you're wrong. Your attempts are about as easy to see through as air," Harepaw muttered irritatedly. The accusation still stung. How dare she compare him to his brother? She, of all cats, had no right to do that. Especially considering how she had yelled at _him_ for being insensitive not so long ago.

"Maybe they are. But anyway, would you _please_ tell me the truth?" Kestrelpaw asked pleasantly. She promised herself that from now on, she would make herself speak more slowly, so as to have more time to consider what she was going to say. But that would be so difficult! What if it was an emergency? The others would think her a bumbling idiot if she insisted upon speaking about as fast as a snail moved – especially if there was someone's life in danger. Kestrelpaw hated the thought of anybody thinking her a bumbling idiot.

"No," Harepaw refused, steadily stalking onwards with his head in the air.

"Please?" Kestrelpaw persisted, padding quickly after him. She never had been one to give up easily when it came to pestering others.

There was a long silence, during which Harepaw continued to walk moodily through the forest, Kestrelpaw following semi-patiently behind. He would have to give in one of these days, Kestrelpaw thought positively.

Above the, the trees began to block out the sunlight more and more. Kestrelpaw almost tripped over a protruding tree root that she hadn't noticed in the darkness. She cursed silently at herself for not being more observant. After all these days in the Place of the Exiled, she ought to be better at navigating her way through the forest without mishaps. Maybe the big problem was that she hadn't been brought up here. Kestrelpaw pondered upon that idea for a while. It would certainly explain a lot of things, but it didn't explain how the cats who had been exiled here managed so well.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kestrelpaw spied a squirrel nibbling on something in the dark. She was pretty sure that the item of food the squirrel was nibbling on must be one of those nuts that the squirrels seemed so fond of. She had tried one once, ages ago, and she felt sure that her teeth had never been the same since. Maybe she had broken a tooth. She wondered at how hard a squirrel's teeth must be to get through something _that_ hard without any repercussions.

Ahead of her, Kestrelpaw saw Harepaw tense, and turn towards the squirrel. He dropped into a hunter's crouch and began to creep forwards towards the unfortunate animal. Slowly, but steadily, he inched his way forwards. Kestrelpaw froze for a moment, wondering whether to disturb him. She was on the verge of turning her head and just looking the other way, when she suddenly wondered if perhaps the squirrel was an omen of some sort. They couldn't kill it then, could they?

"Bah!" Kestrelpaw said suddenly in a piercing whisper, in an attempt to frighten the squirrel off. Sure enough, the squirrel looked up in anxiety at the noise, took one look at the two monstrous creatures staring at it, and raced away as fast as its legs could carry it – forgetting the precious nut in its haste and terror.

"Kestrelpaw!" Harepaw hissed in a quiet but deadly voice as he whirled around to face her. "Why, in the name of StarClan, did you do that?"

Not waiting for an answer, Harepaw stubbornly raced in the general direction of where the squirrel had gone. Shaking her head at her Clanmate's folly, Kestrelpaw followed half-heartedly behind. How could she explain it to him? Squirrels just made her uncomfortable now. Especially eating and hunting them. What if it had been a sign from StarClan? What if Harepaw had _eaten_ the sign from StarClan? Kestrelpaw's eyes grew wide at the thought.

_You are stupid, Kestrelpaw,_ she sighed to herself as she ran after Harepaw. _For all you know, StarClan could've _wanted_ you to eat the squirrel. Now look where you've got yourself – racing after a foolish tom who is too stubborn to realise that there is no way he is ever going to catch up with a _squirrel_ once it's taken fright... and he's going to wake up the entire forest, too._

Preoccupied with her thoughts, Kestrelpaw almost crashed into Harepaw as he stopped suddenly in mid-run. Hastily trying to regain her dignity, and her balance, Kestrelpaw decided that taking the offensive would distract him from her lack of composure. He would probably accuse her of thinking too much, and then start bemoaning his luck in having Kestrelpaw of all cats as a companion. There were times when Kestrelpaw really hated him, and now was one of them.

_No, Kestrelpaw! Hate is a bad emotion. It rots you from the core. You should never possess this feeling_, Kestrelpaw reprimanded herself. She hastily tried to think of some good points that Harepaw possessed. Hmm...

"Why -" Kestrelpaw asked, giving up for the moment on her search for Harepaw's virtues.

"Shh!" Harepaw whispered, staring intently ahead with his ears pricked forward to listen to something.

Curious, Kestrelpaw pressed forward in anticipation. Was she going to eavesdrop on another secret meeting of the Others? Maybe this was actually a common occurrence with the cats of the Others. No wonder nobody in the Place of the Exiled trusted each other. Enemies plotting against enemies, friends plotting against friends, family plotting against family... Kestrelpaw wondered briefly whether it was contagious. Maybe she would soon start to plot against Coal and Harepaw...

A faint voice interrupted her thoughts. Kestrelpaw started in surprise at the sound of the voice. It was terribly familiar. The voice brought back memories of when she was a kit, still new to the world and unfamiliar with her surroundings. A more recent memory made these older ones seem suddenly bitter, though.

Stonebrook.

How could Stonebrook be in the Place of the Exiled? Kestrelpaw leaned forward, eager to catch a glimpse of her mother. There was no mistaking that voice, excited and almost kit-ish. Kestrelpaw felt homesick as she looked around for any sign of her mother.

"What -" Kestrelpaw began, when she failed to spot the grey she-cat who had raised her. Before she could finish her sentence, Harepaw's tail was in her mouth. "Hmmf! Mmmff! Tafe oor ail ouff off my mouff!"

"Sun's looking at something – a puddle of water or something," Harepaw said, so quietly that Kestrelpaw had to strain her ears to hear him. "I think the noise is coming out of that."

Not waiting for Kestrelpaw to answer him, Harepaw crept forward in the stealthy, silent way that the Others used when stalking prey. After a moment's theatrical – silent – spitting as Kestrelpaw attempted rid her mouth of Harepaw's tail hairs, she followed the tom as he crawled nearer to the source of the noise.

It wasn't long before Kestrelpaw could see both Sun and the puddle of water that Sun was staring at intently. For a moment, Kestrelpaw struggled to choke back a chuckle at the sight, and then remembered the seriousness of the situation. There was no doubt that, if Sun realised that the two SkyClan cats were there, she wouldn't hesitate to dispose of them as quickly as possible. Kestrelpaw was certain that Sun was more than a match for both Kestrelpaw and Harepaw put together.

The moment they came within hearing range – or, rather, clear hearing range – Harepaw stopped. Kestrelpaw crouched beside him, hardly daring to move a muscle. If they were able to hear the voices in the pool of water, then Sun would be able to hear them. The riskiness of the situation almost took Kestrelpaw's breath away – indeed, she forgot to breathe for a moment. Then she forced herself to take deep, quiet-ish breaths.

"Mistypool..." a voice breathed from the puddle of water, and Kestrelpaw recognised Whitepaw's voice. But who was Mistypool?

"Shut up, Whitefire! I'm concentrating! And you, too, Stonepaw. Don't learn your mentor's bad manners," a she-cat's voice said sharply, so sharply that Kestrelpaw resisted the urge to flinch. It was not unlike the tones that she had had to deal with in the past when she had faced her punishment for her pranks. _So this must be Mistypool..._, Kestrelpaw thought interestedly, once she'd gotten over her fright.

"Now, now, you two," Stonebrook's voice this time, familiar and comforting. "You may both be warriors now, but that mean that you can be rude to each other. Listen, I'm going back to the camp to report to Greenstar -" there was a slight softening of Stonebrook's voice as she said the name - "and I expect you to return with _something_ edible. Don't argue with each other in my absence."

There was a faint padding sound that signified Stonebrook leaving, and then Harepaw turned to look at Kestrelpaw with wide eyes, mouthing. "Whitefire... my brother is a warrior _and_ has an apprentice..."

Kestrelpaw nodded seriously. She said in an almost inaudible whisper. "Sounds like it." Then she turned her attention back to the pool of water in front of Sun – the latter was still studying the pool of water with a serious expression on her feline face. Kestrelpaw wondered how a pool of water could make voices come out of it, but then decided that she would puzzle it over later. For now, she was content to listen to the familiar voices – and one unfamiliar one – float up out of the puddle.

"My manners are not that bad!" Whitepaw – no, White_fire_, Kestrelpaw corrected herself – said in a jesting tone. With a jolt, Kestrelpaw realised that if she had still been in SkyClan, she would either have had her warrior ceremony already, or she would have been made a warrior within a moon or two. The realisation made Kestrelpaw feel slightly sad. She knew now that, even if she returned to SkyClan one day, she would never fit in as well as she had before. She had been gone for too long to do so – around seven or eight moons, perhaps even more. That didn't exactly sound like a long time, but it was certainly long enough for everybody in her Clan to have changed, even if just a bit.

"Pfft! You haven't listened to yourself enough, obviously," the cat called Mistypool snorted. There was a sudden squeal from the pool of water, and Kestrelpaw shifted ever-so-slightly in surprise.

"Rainkit! What in StarClan's name are you doing here?" Whitefire's voice was stern, now. Kestrelpaw shifted again in astonishment. Rainkit? Who was that? Kestrelpaw searched her memory to see if she had noticed if any of the she-cats had been expecting kits in SkyClan. No, she couldn't remember any. That meant that Rainkit was either the she-cat Mistypool's child, or had joined the Clan as a kittypet. Unless, of course, Kestrelpaw acknowledged, Rainkit was simply one of the SkyClan she-cats' kits. How long had Kestrelpaw really been gone?

Stonepaw's voice, now. It had changed slightly, but Kestrelpaw still recognised it. "You can't come out of the camp until you're an apprentice, Rainkit. Where's your mother?"

"Don't be so arreegunt!" Rainkit's voice squeaked. Kestrelpaw stifled a snort at the kit's pronunciation of the word.

"Stonepaw, take Rainkit back to the camp. No 'buts', take her back. And tell Fernheart to pay better attention to her kits," Mistypool's voice now. Unforgiving. Harsh. Kestrelpaw felt a sudden resentment towards the she-cat, despite the fact that she had never seen her before nor had she known of her existence before today.

There was a pause, and all sounds from the pool ceased. Kestrelpaw studied Sun carefully. Sun's face was now a mask of concentration. What was the she-cat doing? Was she trying to change what sounds come out of the pool? A sudden, panicked thought occurred to Kestrelpaw. Maybe this was a trap. Sun might have decided to lure Harepaw and Kestrelpaw here, and then punish them for eavesdropping on her... or... or... was there anything that Kestrelpaw had done wrong unwittingly? Anything that would deserve punishment in Sun's eyes?

Then sound started to come from the pool of water again, and Kestrelpaw relaxed minutely, although she couldn't have said why. Beside her, Harepaw also relaxed slightly, although she could tell that he was prepared to race away from the spot at any minute, if Sun discovered them.

"Cherryheart, tell me about your adventures in the Place of the Exiled! Please, please, please!" a kit's voice squealed eagerly. Kestrelpaw started: she didn't know either the name or the voice. But the name was a warrior's name... her mind whirred frantically as she tried to work out what she was hearing.

"Not now," the voice sounded ancient to Kestrelpaw. "Maybe later, Mousekit."

There was disappointed whine from the aforementioned kit. "Oh, please! Tell me about Brownpaw and how everybody thought you were dead! And... and... tell me about Claw! Why did he join ThunderClan, Cherryheart?"

A sigh of exasperation came from the old she-cat at the kit's words. Kestrelpaw's eyes widened, and she turned to look at Harepaw in surprise. _ThunderClan_... the Clan that the Firestar in the legends had led. Kestrelpaw turned to gaze in the direction of the pool of water with renewed interest.

"Leave her alone, Mousekit," a soft voice said quietly. "She's tired."

"And a bore!" the kit squeaked indignantly.

"Come on, Mousekit," the soft voice continued. There was a long moment of silence, and then the soft voice said in a whisper. "If you want her to tell you a story, Mousekit, then you should wait for another day. Cherryheart has never liked recounting the story of when she was in the Place of the Exiled – even when she was younger."

"Why is she in a bad mood today, Greenspirit?" Mousekit's voice was more respectful now, although that may have been because it was Greenspirit she was talking to rather than the old she-cat, Cherryheart.

"She's grieving over the deaths of her friends, small one," Greenspirit's voice was sad as she spoke, and Kestrelpaw resisted sniffling at the emotion in the she-cat's voice. "You must understand, Mousekit... Cherryheart is very old. I don't like to say this, but it will not be long before she joins her friends in StarClan. But she longs for that time, Mousekit. She feels that there is nothing left here for her in ThunderClan."

The kit didn't reply for a while, seeming to think over the magnitude of the words that had just been said. Then the kit said in her squeaky voice. "But she has me! And... and everybody in the Clan looks after her, don't they, Greenspirit?"

Silence for a long time. Then: "Yes, they do their best. Cherryheart has come to feel that she is a burden to the rest of us, though. She is the eldest of the elders, now that Claw has died... and she misses him, little one."

Mousekit's voice was serious. "Will she still be here to watch my apprentice ceremony? It's not too far away, is it?"

"It's less than a moon away... I know that Cherryheart will watch your apprentice ceremony, small one. She wouldn't miss it, for all her longing to be reunited with her friends," Greenspirit said in a firm tone, although Kestrelpaw was pretty sure that Greenspirit wasn't as sure as she sounded. From what Kestrelpaw understood, this 'Cherryheart' was far older than the average elder. Maybe she was an _elder_ elder.

There was another ceasing of sound from the pool of water, and Kestrelpaw stiffened again, ready to run for it. Once again, though, voices began to float out of the puddle. This time, the voices were more jubilant, though.

"Oh my, Cherryheart, I can't believe I'm a warrior!" an excited voice squealed in joy. There the name was again: Cherryheart. Kestrelpaw realised that she had heard it before. The Others spoke occasionally of a group of cats from the 'outside' who had helped them to defeat Light, a leader who sounded all but invincible from the tales that the Others told her of him. Cherryheart had been one of the cats, if she remembered correctly. But that must mean that... how old would Cherryheart be now! She would _ancient_! She had been around in the time of the first leader of the Others... a time so far removed that nobody lived in the Place of the Exiled who actually remembered that time.

"There are far more responsibilities for us now, though, Silverfrost," the same voice that Kestrelpaw had heard before, except younger, said. Kestrelpaw realised with another jolt that she was listening to something in the past. Something that had happened already. What in the name of StarClan was Sun doing?

"Don't be such a dreadful spoilsport, Cherryheart!" a male voice snorted with disbelief. "Can't you be more fun for _once_?"

"Be quiet, Forestpaw!" yet another male voice said sternly. This sounded like an older voice. A more mature voice, Kestrelpaw thought. Perhaps a more senior warrior.

"Branchclaw!" the younger male voice, Forestpaw, whined. "Not you, too!"

"I'm a _warrior_, I'm a _warrior_, I'm a _warrior_!" the first voice, Silverfrost, said delightedly. Kestrelpaw felt as though this Silverfrost was a kindred spirit, able to enjoy life. Unlike Cherryheart, who sounded far more serious and... well... boring.

Suddenly the voices ceased again. Sun's head jerked up in surprise, and she looked around for the source of some noise that she had heard. Kestrelpaw and Harepaw both crouched as near to the ground as the could in an effort not to be seen – forgetting all about running for their lives.

For a moment, for a split second, Kestrelpaw was certain that Sun had seen them. Then Sun seemed to relax again, and stared once more at the pool of water. Kestrelpaw marveled at the fact that Sun hadn't noticed them. Surely a cat with Sun's ability to hear and see things would have been able to pick Harepaw and Kestrelpaw out with ease amongst the bushes and the trees of the forest?

Kestrelpaw's ears strained as she tried to hear any other voices that might be coming out of the pool. However, it seemed Sun had heard enough – or she had sensed that she was being watched. The leader of the Others rose from where she had been crouching in front of the pool of water, and, looking around as if to make sure that nobody was there, melted back into the forest as silently as though she was no lighter than a butterfly.

Harepaw and Kestrelpaw stayed where they were for several more moments, not willing to move until they were absolutely certain that Sun had gone. Kestrelpaw's muscles felt slightly stiff from staying in one position for so long, and she wished that she could just straighten up – even if only for a little while.

It was Harepaw who made the first move. Looking around to reassure himself that Sun really had gone, he crept towards the puddle of water to get a closer look. After a moment's hesitation, Kestrelpaw followed him. Placing each paw with infinite care, it seemed like an age before they finally reached the pool of water and were able to peer into it curiously.

"I don't see anything," Kestrelpaw said disappointedly, her voice no more than a faint whisper in the gloom of the forest. The pool was just like any other pool. In fact, it looked more ordinary than most of the puddles of water Kestrelpaw had seen in her short life. There wasn't even a leaf floating on it to make it more interesting.

"Maybe you're not meant to see anything," Harepaw mused quietly. "Maybe only Sun can see things in it."

"But we heard the voices!" Kestrelpaw exclaimed, and received a reprimanding look from Harepaw.

"Be quiet," he commanded, in as quiet a voice as he could. "I said that maybe _Sun_ could see the images and all that. But we might only be able to hear it."

Kestrelpaw sighed, and stretched slightly. She really couldn't see the point of looking at a pool if there was no chance that she would be able to see anything interesting _in_ it. And she was hungry. As if trying to remind her that they didn't have all day, her stomach growled.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to hunt and then I'm going to spend the rest of the day in camp – eating," Kestrelpaw announced, and began to make her way back towards the camp of the Others. Grumbling about the impatience of little kits, Harepaw followed her – he had no wish to remain by himself near a spot that Sun seemed to frequent.

**Okay, finally the chapter ends! I know it was a pitiful ending, but I really needed to finish the chapter and start writing the next chapter! Anyways... have a wonderful May!**

**P.S. Did anybody else watch the royal wedding on the 29th?**


	20. Talks

**Thank you to KittyKatWater (sorry, I was so excited about finally finishing the 19th chapter that I forgot to thank you for reviewing) and Before the Winter's Dawn for reviewing!**

Talks

"We're getting _nowhere_!" Kestrelpaw hissed impatiently, her tail lashing in frustration. "We've been her for a moon or more, and we still don't know what this 'star' is and where it is!"

Harepaw nodded vigorous agreement. "I think we should spend more time trying to work out what the star is. Right now, all we're doing is just going round and round in circles whilst trying to become a stupid member of the Others. Grrr. It's not like they seriously believe we want to join them, is it?"

"Quiet!" Coal commanded as he sat down comfortably in the shade of a towering oak tree. The three had ventured away from the Others' camp to talk over what they had learned and what they planned to do next. So far, it was plain that none of them had much of an idea of what they were doing. After all, it wasn't as if they had been trained all their lives to solve mysteries and go on journeys, although Harepaw had arrogantly insisted mere moments before that he was sure he was on the trail of this star.

"I think that Sun is up to something," Kestrelpaw said, convinced that this was so. "I mean, there's something odd about her, isn't there? What kind of cat has no pupils in their eyes?"

Once again, Harepaw nodded in agreement. "What we saw yesterday only confirms that she's up to something... she probably knows where this star is, and knows that we want to find it."

There was a pause as the trio thought it over. It did seem highly likely that Sun was somehow involved in this whole WeatherClan quest. After all, she _was_ the leader of the Others – she was bound to know something, even if only a bit, about what the star was. Kestrelpaw was positive that Sun also knew exactly where the star was and that Sun was planning to do something terrible with this star. No wonder WeatherClan wanted the star back so much – if it was as powerful as WeatherClan had hinted at, then Kestrelpaw couldn't imagine the horror that Sun could wreak if she had possession of the star.

"We don't have infinite time," Coal reminded them – as if they needed reminding. He hesitated for a split second for continuing. "I think that the star is in the camp. In fact, I'm so sure that the star is in the camp that I'm willing to bet the next mouse that I catch that not only is the star in the camp, but that -"

"Hang on!" Kestrelpaw broke in. "How do _you_ know that the star is in the camp? Why are you so sure of it?"

Coal's usually calm expression faltered for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "I heard some of the Others cats talking a few days ago. Something they said hinted that they knew why we were here, and that the star is in the camp."

Harepaw looked at Coal in disbelief, sure that Coal was playing some sort of joke on him. "Coal, I know for a fact that _those_ cats -" he meant all the cats in the Place of the Exiled - "don't go talking about something as important as _the star_ where everybody can hear them. They were in the camp, weren't they?" 

"N-no," Coal denied hastily. "I was hunting, and I heard some cats talking in one of those small clearings. One of them said something about a 'star', so I decided that it wouldn't hurt if I listened to them – just for a little while."

Kestrelpaw and Harepaw looked at each other meaningfully. They both knew that there was something fishy about Coal's explanation of how he knew where the star was. However, they also knew that Coal was being truthful when he said that he thought the star was in camp. Kestrelpaw resolved to talk about it with Harepaw later on – when Coal wasn't there.

"But whereabouts in the camp?" Harepaw said in an unusual display of tactfulness, and Coal seemed to become more comfortable at once.

"The leader's den," Coal said confidently, and Kestrelpaw stifled a squeak of surprise. The leader's den? But that meant that it had been right under their noses on their very first day in the camp! Kestrelpaw bristled at the very thought of it. If it was in the leader's den, then they had spent a moon or more just wasting time!

"What _is_ the star, though? We may know where it is, but it would help an awful lot if we knew what we're looking for," Harepaw pointed out with a sigh. He almost thought that WeatherClan had simply made up a quest on the spot and sent them on it just to get rid of them. In other words, there was no real star – it was all just some wild goose chase dreamed up by WeatherClan to get rid of them.

There was another pause as they thought over how hopeless it all was. What was the point of going on a 'quest' if you didn't know what you were searching for? In all the other quests that Kestrelpaw had heard about, the heroes and heroines all were told what they were looking for. Kestrelpaw fumed for a while over how unfair life was on her – she hadn't even asked for the second quest! Okay, so she did agree to going on it, but only because those wretched WeatherClan cats didn't really give her much of a choice!

Taking a deep, calming breath, Kestrelpaw said finally. "Well... let's just say that WeatherClan really did send us on a _genuine_ mission – one that wasn't just made up on the spot by them for fun. Can't we assume that they gave us some hints when they told us about the mission?"

Harepaw and Coal thought over what they had heard of the mission. Coal shook his head after a few moments of serious contemplation, clearly at a loss. Harepaw, however, continued to think over what he had heard about the star, not willing to give up when this might be their last hope. There hadn't been all that much to go on, but...

Suddenly, Harepaw went rigid for a moment as an idea occurred to him. He waited a while before speaking the idea aloud, going over the possibilities in his head to make sure that his idea would be a valid one. Then he breathed in excitement. "What if this 'star' that WeatherClan went on about isn't an object... what if it's a _cat_?" 

Kestrelpaw was pretty sure she had had that idea before, but had tossed it away as very unlikely. However, when it was spoken aloud, it did sound far more likely than it had previously. Maybe, for once, Harepaw was actually right about something. Kestrelpaw couldn't believe that that day had come, but maybe... just maybe... Harepaw could be right.

"You know, you're right," Coal said in surprise, as if he, too, couldn't believe that Harepaw had said something that could possibly be correct. "They never said that the Star was an object. They always referred to the Star as 'our' Star and such. Never as 'it'. Which means that maybe the Star is a member of the Others?" 

Kestrelpaw squeaked in excitement. "Of course! WeatherClan said the Others stole the Star, but maybe the Star doesn't even realise that! Maybe the Others stole the Star when the Star was just a kit! Who could be the Star, though?"

"Vine!" before anybody could answer, Kestrelpaw squealed again. "She's young enough, isn't she? They wouldn't allow the Star to remain with the Others too long, would they? So the Star must be pretty young."

"It's not Vine," Coal argued, utterly convinced. "She doesn't have any magical powers or anything like that."

Kestrelpaw shot him a suspicious look, but decided to allow the comment to pass. If Coal wanted to defend Vine, then so be it. "Then it must be one of the other juveniles here – or even one of the kits. None of them display any magic powers, though."

"Maybe they're so magical that they can hide their magic powers?" Harepaw suggested, and then looked confused as he thought over what he had said.

"Pfft! As if," Kestrelpaw dismissed the idea almost immediately.

"No, think about it for a moment," Harepaw insisted, warming to his previously rejected idea. "That would make perfect sense. And, you know what, perhaps the 'star' that we're looking for wasn't even _stolen_ by the Others – maybe the 'star' _left_. You know how blind those WeatherClan cats are – they wouldn't know the difference."

Kestrelpaw considered it for a moment, then shook her head. "No. I can understand why someone might run away from WeatherClan, but why run away from WeatherClan to the Place of the Exiled? That doesn't make sense, unless they were _exiled_ there in the first place. And the 'star', if it really is a cat, couldn't have been exiled here because otherwise WeatherClan wouldn't have asked us to retrieve because... because... because they wouldn't have been stupid enough to exile the 'star' here in the first place if it was that powerful."

Harepaw, Coal and Kestrelpaw all sat in silence for a long time, just thinking over what they could do to complete their mission and – in Harepaw's and Kestrelpaw's cases – return to SkyClan. There was something about this 'star' that was indefinably irritating to Kestrelpaw. She knew that she had an answer to the question, somewhere in her mind... she had the frustrating feeling that it was incredibly obvious, but that...

"Oh my StarClan!" Kestrelpaw and Harepaw exclaimed at exactly the same moment, realisation dawning upon them. Coal glanced at the two of them in confusion, wondering what had happened to cause such a joyous expression in each of the apprentices' faces.

"Oh, it's so _obvious_!" Kestrelpaw squeaked in disbelief at her stupidity. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Great _StarClan_! I thought I was cleverer than _that_!" Harepaw grumbled in disappointment at his lack of intelligence.

"What? What is it?" Coal demanded, feeling slightly left out, and, he had to admit, rather stupid in the face of the amazing discovery his companions seemed to have made.

Kestrelpaw looked at Coal in amazement. "You haven't realised? The 'star' that WeatherClan was talking... the 'star' _is _a cat, and the 'star' _is _in the Others... and the 'star' _is_ often in the leader's den. So the 'star' is -"

"Sun!" Harepaw exploded.

"_What_?" Coal was stunned.

"Think about it, Coal – Sun has those weird all-black eyes, she's the one who listens to voices in water that mysteriously disappear the moment she leaves, and she may be the leader, but she is _young enough to be an apprentice_! And, you know what, of course she is in the leader's den. Coal says that the 'star' is in the leader's den, doesn't he? Well, he's right! Sun's den is the leader's den. I mean, it's _got_ to be Sun, hasn't it?" Kestrelpaw explained rapidly, convinced that she was right.

"And you forget that we walked right over the river when we went to attack those cats," Harepaw added. "With Sun leading the patrol, it had to be her doing."

Kestrelpaw stared at Harepaw, dumbfounded. "We walked over a river? I don't remember that."

"You should have felt it, Kestrelpaw. The ground was slightly slushy sometimes as we ran over the river. Can't you remember?" Harepaw asked her, surprised.

Kestrelpaw suddenly remember feeling as though her paw had sunk into a puddle split seconds before dashing into the forest. "That's impossible! I only felt the ground go slushy a few seconds before I entered the forest!"

"We were running pretty fast, Kestrelpaw. And, when you run over the river as though it is ground, you can cover it pretty fast. Anyway, don't you _see_, Coal? It's got to be Sun!" Harepaw continued excitedly, elated at finally having solved the answer to the 'star' mystery.

Kestrelpaw was pacing the ground furiously, her mind buzzing with thoughts. "But that doesn't solve the whole problem. We need to get Sun to go back to WeatherClan so that we can complete our mission."

"That's not going to be easy," Harepaw admitted. "In fact, it's going to be very difficult. First, we're going to need to get Sun on her own, willing or unwilling. If she really is the 'star', though, she would be able to defeat all of us by herself in a fight if she wanted to. Just say we do get Sun on her own, though... then we need to convince her to go back to WeatherClan. If it's true that she ran away from WeatherClan, then it's going to be almost impossible to persuade her to go back. If she was taken forcibly away from WeatherClan, then we have to keep in mind that somebody had to be very powerful to kidnap her and plonk her here. In which case, we have to be wary of that cat, who could still be around. I'll bet it's Hawk."

Coal was looking rather lost at this sudden advance in their mission. It was almost as though Kestrelpaw and Harepaw were now on the same wavelength, and could read each other's minds. This was thoroughly annoying for Coal, as all he could do was just sit and stare, trying to fathom the minds of his companions.

"There are a _lot_ of 'ifs' there, but WeatherClan wouldn't have given us a mission that we couldn't accomplish!" Kestrelpaw said chirpily, restored to her good spirits at the discovery of the identity of the mysterious 'star'.

Harepaw snorted. "Yeah, right. WeatherClan is _really_ determined that we'll get through this mission safe and sound, without a hair upon our precious heads harmed. To be honest, I think that WeatherClan is hoping that we won't manage to complete our quest and therefore _they_ won't have to stop our Clanmates from dying."

Kestrelpaw sighed as she admitted that there was a high possibility of this being true. "Well, yeah..."

"Okay," Harepaw said, taking charge. "First of all, we've got to corner Sun, somehow. It'd be best to do that if we can go on some kind of patrol with her, or when you see her sneaking out of camp without anybody else. So, Kestrelpaw, you get the particularly pleasurable job of spying on Sun and then telling us when she's gone off on her own. Coal -"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Kestrelpaw interrupted, already seeing flaws in his plan. "Sun is an expert at finding her way in this place. If I have to spend precious time trying to find you two so that I can alert you that she's gone, we're going to miss our chance. More than likely, she'll have vanished into thin air and we'll get utterly lost if we try to follow her trail. It'd be a better idea for us to wait until she's in her leader's den, and we're all in camp, and then we can ask if she can go on a patrol with us."

"She'll refuse," Coal piped up.

"No, she won't. She'll be too curious about what we're up to to refuse, and if she really is the 'star' that WeatherClan is after, she be confident that we can't beat her if it comes down to a fight. In fact, mouse brain, she has every reason _not_ to refuse!" Harepaw exclaimed in delight. Turning to Kestrelpaw, he admitted grudgingly. "You're right, it probably would be better not to sneak after her, because she _would_ be able to make sure that she's un-trackable whenever she leaves the camp."

Kestrelpaw lashed her tail excitedly. "And then we can confront her straight out about whether she's the 'star' or not, and back up our claims with evidence. It's no use trying to get her in a good mood first, because for all we know, she could have some kind of ability to read minds – like in the elders' tales."

Harepaw nodded in agreement. "You're right, again. The best thing to do is be straightforward about it – at least until we get to the part about trying to convince her to go back to WeatherClan. That'll be the more tricky part."

"Trickier than cornering her and forcing her to admit that she's the 'star'?" Coal asked dryly.

"Of course it will be..." Kestrelpaw thought hard about what she could do to persuade Sun to go back to WeatherClan, and her mind came up blank.

"I've got a whole array of ideas to force Sun to -" Harepaw began with enthusiasm, talking slightly more loudly than usual. Then, suddenly, he went rigid. Kestrelpaw and Coal looked up at Harepaw in bewilderment as he stared over their shoulders and began to open and close his mouth silently.

"What in StarClan are you – _oh_," Kestrelpaw looked over her shoulder and froze as well. For a split second, it seemed like her whole world had come crashing down around her, even as she chided herself for being melodramatic.

Standing right behind her was the cat that she was equally eager and afraid to talk to.

Sun.

**Yay! I've _finally_ finished Chapter 20! **

**And, Before the Winter's Dawn, I'm really sorry about your dog... I can be dreadfully insensitive at times.**


	21. Sun

**Chapter 21 – Last chapter... yay! This chapter is a bit rushed, but a lot of things are 'revealed' in this chapter.**

Sun

There was a very long, awkward silence as the three companions looked from one to the other, and then back to Sun again. Coal's shoulders seemed to hunch ever-so-slightly, as if prepared for a blow of some sort. Harepaw's whiskers twitched nervously – he seemed to have lost all his previous confidence when faced so suddenly with the subject of their conversation. Kestrelpaw herself gulped in anxiety and fear as she wondered how much Sun had overheard.

Sun stared at Kestrelpaw with her huge black eyes (or, at least, Kestrelpaw assumed that Sun was staring at her. You could never tell which direction Sun was looking because of her pupil-less eyes). Kestrelpaw resisted the urge to shiver as she attempted to gaze back at fearlessly.

"Was there something that you wanted to ask me?" Sun said softly, her claws sheathing and unsheathing on the hard ground, causing tiny puffs of dust to hover over the earth.

Kestrelpaw and Harepaw exchanged a glance, each wishing that the other one would speak first. When Harepaw stubbornly refused to say a word, Kestrelpaw took a deep breath and summoned up all her courage and wits so that she could speak without rambling too much.

"Are you alone?" Kestrelpaw asked in feigned confidence, drawing herself up to her full height as she stalked a few pawsteps closer to Sun.

"Does it matter?" Sun replied coolly, returning Kestrelpaw's green gaze piercingly.

Kestrelpaw wanted to hand over the responsibility of talking to Sun over to one of the two toms that were helpfully edging away from Sun. Seeing as how they were too cowardly to offer to sacrifice themselves, however, it seemed that she would just have to cope by herself. Which she was perfectly capable of doing, Kestrelpaw reminded herself firmly.

"Of course it doesn't," Kestrelpaw agreed, not knowing why she was agreeing. "But my companions and I have something to discuss with you – something of utmost importance". She liked the way the words 'utmost importance' sounded, and it gave her the courage to continue to look Sun in the eye.

"Feel free to elaborate," Sun said, eyeing Kestrelpaw in an almost thoughtful way.

Kestrelpaw briefly looked over her shoulder and shot her companions a glare, then turned to look at Sun again. "We – that is, Coal, Harepaw and I – have been sent here on a mission by WeatherClan to return a 'star' of theirs that had been stolen. We have good reason to believe that you are the 'star' in question, and we are here to ask you if you would consider returning to WeatherClan."

If Sun hadn't been a cat, she would have smiled. As it was, she had an amused expression upon her face was patronising, as though she was dealing with some very persistent kits. "And can I ask you why you believe that I am the 'star' that you are talking about?"

"Because you are. There is no use denying it, Sun. Nothing is going to change our minds about the fact that you – and none other – are the 'star', and that you are therefore what WeatherClan wants so badly," Kestrelpaw stood her ground, utterly convinced that Sun was the 'star'. She was confident of that fact, even if she wasn't confident about anything else in their plan.

"Why were you sent on this mission in the first place? What did WeatherClan offer you?" Sun asked, avoiding the question that Kestrelpaw had originally asked.

"We want WeatherClan to stop a drought that they have placed on our Clan," Kestrelpaw had already decided that truth was the best policy in this case. After all, Sun was bound to know a lot more than she let on if she was as powerful as WeatherClan had said.

Sun stared at Kestrelpaw, hard. "What if I am Star? What will you do then?"

Kestrelpaw considered her answer carefully before replying. "We will order you to return to WeatherClan and explain why you ran away from them -" she didn't know how she knew, but somehow it seemed rather obvious that it was Sun's choice to be where she was today - "and convince them, of course, to lift the drought. If you return to WeatherClan, my companions and I will have fulfilled our part of the bargain, and perhaps WeatherClan will see fit to grant us our wish."

Sun looked at the three of them thoughtfully, examining them. Then: "You are fools to believe that WeatherClan will uphold their part of your bargain. They never do."

Kestrelpaw felt as though somebody had raked an icy, burning claw right through her heart. Was it true? Did Sun know what she was talking about when she said that WeatherClan never fulfilled their part of the bargain? Did that mean that Kestrelpaw had thrown her life, and her companions' lives, into a danger zone for nothing at all? Did that mean that Kestrelpaw was doomed to living in WeatherClan territory without ever dying or seeing another cat for all eternity?

"That's not true!" Kestrelpaw exclaimed, momentarily losing her calm. Then she hastily regained her composure, realising that this was not the way to convince Sun to go back. "Listen..."

Another pause that seemed to stretch for hours as Kestrelpaw struggled to find a way to reason with Sun. She realised now that Sun was not one who would do things for other cats, not unless she benefited from it herself. That was probably why Sun was one of the most respected leaders in the Place of the Exiled – she was cruel, merciless but she knew what she was doing. Nothing Sun ever did was done without deep thought and careful planning. Kestrelpaw had heard about the previous leaders of the Others, and all of them had sounded very similar to Sun. Perhaps that was simply what it took to become leader in this place.

To get back to the point, though, Kestrelpaw now understood that if she was going to have to reason with Sun, she was going to have to offer a good enough reason for Sun to go back to WeatherClan – one that Sun would profit from. Unfortunately, Kestrelpaw could not actually think of any good reason for the leader of the Others to go back to WeatherClan. This was what had caused her to trail off as she realised the hopelessness of her task.

Suddenly, Harepaw stepped forward. His eyes were sparkling with excitement as he spoke. "Go back to WeatherClan with us. You know that they took some powers from you when you left them, and that you want those powers back. If you come to WeatherClan with us, and you rejoin them, they will give you back the powers that you lost. They would never dare to refuse you because you are precious to them – because of you, they were able to have access to the abilities of StarClan as well as their own abilities."

Kestrelpaw stared at Harepaw, once again dumbfounded. How did he know that? There was no way that he could have known that! Kestrelpaw didn't know that! He hadn't known that Sun was the 'star' until today, and therefore he couldn't have possibly known that she had lost her powers.

Sun stared at Harepaw with a strange mixture of contempt and surprise. "It seems that you have been paying attention, unlike your _companions_. But you still have given me no reason to return to WeatherClan."

Kestrelpaw wracked her brains desperately in the hope that she could find a persuasive reason for Sun to rejoin WeatherClan. She would have to ask Harepaw later on how he knew about all that, but for now there was a much more important matter on her mind. What could she say? What could she _say_? What could she? Something that would convince Sun... or Star, whatever she was really called. Then, in a flash, the words came tumbling out of Kestrelpaw's mouth without her even thinking about what she was saying.

"You'll go back and join WeatherClan again – at least temporarily – because you want to help another WeatherClan cat, don't you? If WeatherClan cats don't help one another, then there will be nobody left to help them. And, admit it, they need help sometimes. You may not be part of WeatherClan now, but you can't renounce your birthright, whatever you say," Kestrelpaw said hastily, trying to get in as much as she could before Sun interrupted her. "So you'll do this, just this once, because otherwise I'll never let you forget this. And a WeatherClan cat's wrath is not one you want to face."

Sun eyed Kestrelpaw suspiciously, disbelief written all over her face. "Are you trying to say that you're a WeatherClan cat?"

"I... yes, of course I am," Kestrelpaw said quickly, causing Coal and Harepaw to stare at her in utter shock. She flicked her tail to silence them, just in case they would say something that ruined her speech once and for all.

"Can you _prove_ it to me?" Sun said, still looking disbelieving.

Kestrelpaw was at a loss as to how to 'prove' her lie. Thinking quickly, she said. "Wait. If I prove it to you, will you return to WeatherClan and make sure that they lift the drought from SkyClan?"

Sun thought this over for a long time, the seconds ticking by with painful tension. Kestrelpaw was torn between wanting her to agree – so that her Clan would be saved – and wanting her to say 'no' – so that her lie wouldn't be proven to be exactly what it was, a lie.

"Very well. Go ahead and do your best. If you convince me that you _belong_ with WeatherClan, and that you _are_ part of WeatherClan, then I'll go back to WeatherClan. Even if only temporarily," Sun agreed, but she didn't say what would happen if Kestrelpaw couldn't prove it. Obviously, Sun was a believer in 'if they don't know what happens, then they only get more frightened'. Kestrelpaw couldn't say that that wasn't true, either. Certainly, she didn't like the idea of what Sun would do with her should she fail any more than she didn't like the idea of what WeatherClan was going to do to her if she failed. What a life.

"Okay. Fine," Kestrelpaw gulped as she looked around for something to prove her WeatherClan-ness to Sun. Maybe she could make it seem like it was thundering? Kestrelpaw thought really hard about the sky turning black and lightning striking nearby, which seemed like a rather hopeless attempt considering that she had been lying to Sun in the first place. Nevertheless, something inside Kestrelpaw convinced her to go along with this idea.

Not wishing to see the horrified expressions of Harepaw and Coal, Kestrelpaw closed her eyes and blocked out everything else. She thought about the thunder and the lightning, and then something hit her mentally like a rock. She had wondered why Mistral had seemed so familiar to her, and now she knew why. _Oh Great StarClan_. Kestrelpaw hastily banished the thoughts from her mind – she had to concentrate on this mad, foolhardy attempt of hers that was bordering on the stupidly insane.

For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then there was a gasp from Harepaw and Kestrelpaw felt something wet on the tip of her nose. She opened her eyes gingerly and almost jumped six foot in the air when she saw the stormy black clouds above her and the rain that was now pouring down on them. In a mere few seconds, she was utterly drenched to the bone, but she was so ecstatic that she barely noticed it.

"Great _StarClan_, Kestrelpaw! What did you do?" Harepaw shouted over the howl of the wind and the sudden roar of thunder in the distance. Kestrelpaw felt like jumping up and down in joy at what she had just done. Or, at least, she assumed that she was the cause of this sudden change in weather. If she wasn't, what great good fortune!

"Happy now?" Kestrelpaw bounced over jubilantly to Sun, yelling in the other she-cat's ear at the top of her lungs. She was now feeling rather cold, but didn't give a damn. She was so close to getting Sun to agree to go back to WeatherClan...

Sun's black eyes bored into Kestrelpaw's green ones. Then the leader of the Others sighed, her long whiskers drooping with the weight of all the water. "Yes. I'll go back to WeatherClan – but you owe me. Now, I -"

There was a tremendous shake all of a sudden, cutting off Sun's sentence. Kestrelpaw felt the world spin around her wildly, and she squeezed her eyes tight shut as her stomach did a somersault. Even with her eyes shut, her stomach still felt absolutely terrible, and hearing Harepaw retching didn't help much, either. Kestrelpaw kept her mouth closed, not wanting to throw up and wound her pride.

Then, with a loud _thump_, Kestrelpaw and her companions fell flat on a hard, dirt ground. Kestrelpaw could have sworn that she broke a few teeth, too. However, she didn't have much time to think about her poor teeth, as she soon realised that there was a cat standing over her, casting a long shadow that made her shiver with a mixture of cold and fright.

Sun scrambled up from where she was lying flat on her stomach. She was giving the newcomer the glare of a lifetime. "_Mistral_."

Kestrelpaw leapt to her feet at the sound of the name, her heat beating at least two times faster than it usually did. She gazed at the WeatherClan she-cat with wide-eyes, and then said. "Are you really..."

Mistral deigned to look at Kestrelpaw, and then nodded solemnly. "Yes."

Kestrelpaw continued before any of the others could say anything, and totally ignored Harepaw's frustrated look. "And am I really..."

"Yes," if Mistral had been able to smile, she would have smiled with faint happiness. Which was an exceedingly odd emotion to be expressed by a WeatherClan cat, from Kestrelpaw knew of them. Whilst she was trying to puzzle out why Mistral looked so 'happy', Harepaw was already sticking his nose into Kestrelpaw's business.

"What in StarClan's name are you talking about, Kestrelpaw?" Harepaw demanded, stalking forwards so that they couldn't ignore him any more. His whiskers twitched as though he was on the verge of some amazing discovery.

Kestrelpaw hesitated, and then blurted out. "You know that when I first saw Mistral, I thought that she looked really familiar? Well... who do you think she looks like?"

Harepaw stared at Mistral with a confused expression, and then realised what Kestrelpaw was talking about. His mouth dropped open in amazement as his gaze darted from Kestrelpaw to Mistral and then back again. He stuttered in his astonishment. "You-you d-d-don't mean to s-s-say that _she's_ your m-mother?"

"Yes, I most certainly do mean exactly that," Kestrelpaw squeaked, part excitement, part confusion.

"But, what about S-stonebrook?" Harepaw stammered in utter confusion at this sudden change in events. His poor brain was overworking as he tried to figure this one out. "You have two mothers?"

"Don't be stupid! I... Stonebrook can't be my mother, because Mistral most definitely is," Kestrelpaw looked to Mistral for help in explaining this new turn of events that had all of them stumped for answers. Even Sun was staring bemusedly at the other cats, not quite sure what they were talking about but intrigued all the same by the conversation.

"Stonebrook is just your adopted mother. And you're only half-WeatherClan. Your father was a... rogue," Mistral sniffed with distaste at the mention of Kestrelpaw's father. She clearly no longer held any affection for the aforementioned tom, as there was not a trace of warmth in her voice when she talked about him. "WeatherClan didn't want you, and I didn't either. So when Stonebrook had a kit on the same day that you were born, we just gave you to her. She doesn't know that you aren't her kit and nobody else does – we did a bit of tampering with their memories. We would also prefer for it to remain this way. As for your developing WeatherClan powers... we didn't know that that would happen."

Coal interrupted the joyful family reunion with an uncharacteristically sharp comment. "The 'Star' has agreed to come back – can we all go now and they can return to their Clan?"

Mistral glared at him, but before she could reply a young tortoiseshell she-cat bounced up to them enthusiastically. The newcomer shrieked with delight when she saw who Mistral was talking to, and she launched herself at the understandably confused Kestrelpaw, who didn't know quite what to make of the strange she-cat.

"Oh, I thought you were never going to make it!" the she-cat exclaimed with joy, and then leapt off Kestrelpaw and ran towards Harepaw, who immediately side-stepped. Kestrelpaw glared at the strange tortoiseshell cat, and said haughtily. "And who are _you_?"

The tortoiseshell she-cat stopped racing around with excitement, and stopped suddenly, disappointment and hurt all over her face. She looked from one cat to the other, unable to believe her ears. Then she said in a surprised voice. "Don't you recognise me?"

"Noooo... wait... Oh my StarClan! If this keeps happening, I'll end up dying of a heart attack!" Kestrelpaw exclaimed, sure that she would faint any time soon because of all the surprise and excitement that had happened that day. First, realising that Sun had been listening to their devious conversation; second, discovering that she actually _could_ control the weather; third, discovering that Mistral was actually her _mother _and fourth discovering that the strange tortoiseshell, WeatherClan she-cat was actually...

"_Squirrelpaw_?" Harepaw and Coal had caught up with Kestrelpaw's train of thought, and were staring at the tortoiseshell she-cat as though the world had just ended and they were actually in StarClan.

"Nope. Well... I used to be called that. Now, I'm known as 'Clement' – and I'm part of WeatherClan. They decided that they couldn't let me die, and they had other uses for me – so they allowed me to become part of WeatherClan!" Clement exclaimed delightedly, totally forgetting her previous hurt in the light of her friends' surprise. Then she frowned as she looked at the other cats. "Where's Sparrowpaw?"

"He's gone – we don't know where," Harepaw said harshly, and Kestrelpaw shot him a surprised look. He hadn't seemed to be so touchy about the subject before, but then a lot of things had changed about Harepaw since they had left SkyClan.

"Can we go back to SkyClan?" Kestrelpaw interrupted, suddenly feeling an overwhelming need to be back with her 'family' and friends in her old Clan. No matter what happened, she knew that she would always want to go back to SkyClan. She was eager to go back there right now, and felt irritated that she would have to wait for even the teensiest bit longer.

Mistral considered the companions, and then looked at Sun questioningly. It was clear that the choice was up to Sun and whether the black she-cat decided to follow through on her promise. Kestrelpaw felt a twinge of unease – had she been right to trust Sun? Would Sun back out at the last minute and allow more of Kestrelpaw's Clan members to die as a result. Kestrelpaw had no idea whether the drought was improving or not, and she sincerely hoped that Stonebrook was still alive.

"Do you want to return to WeatherClan, Star?" Mistral asked Sun, her gaze sharp and without a hint of the warmth they had previously shown.

"No. But I will return to WeatherClan because I agreed to _help_ Kestrelpaw and her _friends_," Sun glared at Kestrelpaw as though Kestrelpaw had somehow forced her into the agreement, and then she turned back to Mistral. "I want you to return her to her Clan, along with Harepaw and Coal."

There was a very short pause, and then Coal broke in with a panicked voice. "No! I don't want to go to SkyClan. I want to stay with the Others."

"_What_?" Kestrelpaw and Harepaw exclaimed in unison, staring in shock at Coal. 'Shock' was an emotion that Kestrelpaw was becoming increasingly familiar with, thanks to the events of the past day. It wasn't an emotion that she was too fond of, and she wished that she could live her life without so many shocks.

"I... I... want to stay with the Others," Coal said in a firm voice, and before he could even explain why, Mistral nodded her head in agreement with him. Perhaps she had foreseen this, and was thus her surprise was nearly nonexistent. Kestrelpaw fumed at the thought that somebody could have foresight – that made life way too unfair.

Another pause, and then Mistral looked at Kestrelpaw and Harepaw with a faint glimmer of amusement in her usually emotionless green eyes. After all, Kestrelpaw _was_ her daughter – how could she fail to show at least some kind of emotion in front of her? "Do you both want to return to SkyClan? Tornado has already arranged for the drought to be called off, so by the time you get there your Clan ought to be recovering. I, personally, don't want you to join WeatherClan, Kestrelpaw. So I'm very happy for you to go back to where you were brought up."

Kestrelpaw and Harepaw nodded vehemently in agreement. They both said definitively. "Yes. I want to go back." and then they looked at each other in surprise and amusement that they had voiced one another's thoughts. Life really was changing somewhat around here.

"Say goodbye to Coal and Clement, then. You will be sent there as soon as you've finished that," Mistral said hurriedly, not wishing to wait around any longer and waste her time. There were plenty of other things for a WeatherClan cat to do than be with her only daughter and get to know her better – like running the world's weather and making sure that just the right amount of cats knew about WeatherClan's existence.

"Goodbye!" Kestrelpaw headbutted Clement affectionately, and then turned to Coal in haste. "And goodbye to you, too. I hope you... um... enjoy your new life with the Others."

"Goodbye," Harepaw nodded briefly to both Clement and Coal in his usual, un-affectionate way.

"You'll have a wonderful life, Kestrelpaw, I just know it! And you will, too, Harepaw," Clement's eyes looked suspiciously misty. She was sniffling ever-so-slightly. "Don't worry. I'll make sure that Sparrowpaw is safe."

"Thank you," Kestrelpaw said stiffly. She no longer held her 'brother' in high regard. There wasn't even the excuse that he was her brother any more – he wasn't! She thought of him now with barely any emotion at all. His actions had done their work perfectly: he had totally alienated Kestrelpaw and Harepaw from him.

"Goodbye," Coal whispered, looking happy and sad at the same time. Kestrelpaw strongly suspected that the reasons for Coal wanting to stay with the Others had something to do with the fact that he had found a certain somebody in the Others that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Nevertheless, she didn't have time to question him about it as, before she could say another word, the world began to spin around her wildly.

So... she would never know exactly why she had been dumped in SkyClan – Mistral's explanation was not the best one – and she also wouldn't know the answer to a great many more mysteries that had taken place during her rather short journey. In fact, the amount of unanswered things far eclipsed the amount of answered ones, and Kestrelpaw's head hurt just to think of them. Those mysteries were what she could think about in the future though, when she had some spare time and was back in her home.

_Maybe one day, _Kestrelpaw thought as she fell hard on her face just outside SkyClan's camp. _Maybe one day I'll know the answers. But not now. Now, there are more important things to worry about_

As if on cue, she heard her mother's voice – Stonebrook's voice – right next to her, sounding breathy and astonished. "Kestrelpaw?"

**OMG! Finally! Done! There will be an epilogue, but I'm so happy that I've finally finished the story. Gawd, it was really beginning to drag, and the last chapter (this one) has a rushed air about it. I'm really sorry about that, but I don't want to edit it because I kinda like it the way it is. You know?**


	22. Epilogue

**The _last chapter_! Okay, so, officially, this isn't a chapter. It's an epilogue. But you get what I mean. **

**Can I just say that I've known exactly what the epilogue was going to be about from the moment I started the story (okay, so that's a _bit_ of an exaggeration. I knew what the epilogue was going to be about when I started writing chapter 3 or 4). **

**Is anybody surprised who Kestrelpaw ends up with? I doubt it... you guys should totally have seen this coming(or, at least, the people who are still reading this fic, almost a year on from when I started it.)**

Epilogue

"Oh, Kestrelflight... they're beautiful," Petalpaw cooed adoringly, gazing at the two newborn kits with loving eyes. The apprentice was only days away from becoming a warrior, and Kestrelflight knew that the other she-cat's heart was already set on having kits of her own some day.

"They are, aren't they?" Harefur said two newborn kits _were_ unusually good-looking – for newborn kits. Maybe it was the WeatherClan blood, as Harefur often claimed when only Kestrelflight could hear him (she had forbidden him from telling _anybody_ about her heritage). Or maybe it was just good genes, as Harefur also claimed, this time within earshot of anybody who was willing to listen to him.

Mistypool was looking at the two new kits critically, and then said abruptly. "Have you decided upon any names for them? You can't continue to call them 'the kits' all the time."

Kestrelflight gazed at her children with adoration in her eyes. To her, they were the most beautiful creatures in the world. Sometimes, she worried that they might have inherited some strange abilities to control weather from her, but for now she had decided that she would deal with the current problems and worry about future problems in the... well... in the future. Harefur had agreed with her on that point, at least. Not that he was willing to admit there was anything wrong with their children in the first place, or that their kits were anything but perfect. He was even more biased than Kestrelflight was!

"Well?" Petalpaw prompted, not taking her eyes off the kits. The apprentice was, without a doubt, besotted with Kestrelflight's kits, and Kestrelflight wondered why _she_ herself had never been interested in kits. It had just never occurred to her what wonderful creatures they were before she had become a mother.

"I... she's going to be called Sunkit," Kestrelflight gestured with her tail to her small black daughter. She had discussed the names of her kits to great extent with Harefur, and he had agreed that they would name their daughter after the leader of the Others. It was certainly an odd namesake, but it was also very true that, without Sun's consent, Kestrelflight wouldn't have been here today. She would be wandering high in the sky, without ever coming across another cat, ever. So, they actually did have quite a bit to thank Sun for – even if it was also true that, had Sun not run away in the first place, they wouldn't have had to go to the Others. But all things happened for a reason.

"And the other one?" Stonebrook asked her adopted daughter softly. Kestrelflight glanced across at Harefur to make sure that he was still certain about what he wanted to call their son. After all, it was one thing to name their daughter after the leader of the Others, but quite another to name their son after the cat who had walked out on them towards the end of their journey without a second thought.

"Sparrowkit," Kestrelflight breathed when Harefur nodded his agreement. This was her own way of saying that, after almost seven moons, she had finally decided to forgive her adopted brother for what he had done, and had allowed the past to be the past. She also knew that it would please Stonebrook immensely. Stonebrook had never been told the full story of what had happened to Sparrowpaw, but she had always just assumed that he had died. It was better that way, Kestrelflight had decided. It was highly unlikely that Sparrowpaw would come back to SkyClan now, after seven moons.

Kestrelflight gazed at her dark grey son sorrowfully. She hoped sincerely that naming him after Sparrowpaw wouldn't lead him to make the same choices that Sparrowpaw had done. Kestrelflight was determined that she would do the best she could to make sure that he wouldn't abandon his family and friends like Sparrowpaw had done – but then she could only do so much. In the end, it would be her son's choice as to what path he would take. Kestrelflight wondered whether maybe Sparrowpaw was sorry about his departure from the Others, but in her heart she knew that she would probably never find out.

"Do you plan on having any more kits?" Petalpaw asked curiously, looking up at the new mother with round eyes. Kestrelflight snorted at the expression on Harefur's face at the very idea of more kits. He may have loved his kits, but she was pretty sure that he was content to have just two for the moment.

"Well, let's wait until these ones become apprentices. Then we'll see," Kestrelflight chuckled, wrapping her tail around her children protectively. She could tell that her kits, being only three days old, were about to fall asleep again, and she gave Mistypool a pleading look. Kestrelflight wanted to make sure that her kits slept well, without any disturbances or loud noises.

Understanding what Kestrelflight wanted, Mistypool rose from where she had been lying down next to Whitefire, and said in her sharpest, most commanding voice. "Okay, everybody. Clear out! Kestrelflight needs some peace and quiet with her kits. Yes, that means you too, Petalpaw."

"Awwww," Petalpaw complained, but she obediently filed out after the other cats, casting one last, longing glance at the now sleeping kits. Kestrelflight had no doubt whatsoever that Petalpaw would one day be where she was now, with her own kits.

There was a long silence in the nursery, as only Kestrelflight, Harefur and their two kits remained inside. Kestrelflight felt rather tired herself, having had to endure a constant influx of cats who were eager to see the latest additions to the Clan. Maybe now that they had all had a glimpse of the kits, she would be able to get some proper rest without any disturbance. The very thought was laughable. Without disturbance? And her being the only queen in the nursery! Petalpaw would be regularly checking up on the kits to make sure that they were okay, and that Kestrelflight didn't need any extra food.

Kestrelflight glanced at her mate, who was busy staring at the kits with a slight frown in his eyes. She wondered what Harefur had found wrong this time. Was it something that she had said to the others? Kestrelflight sighed in exasperation, and asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing... I just... d'you think there's a reason that Mistral let Coal go back to the Others so easily?" Harefur queried in a low voice. It wasn't the first time he had asked the question, and Kestrelflight knew it wouldn't be the last.

"Possibly. But who can ever fathom the minds of WeatherClan cats? Speaking of which... will we tell our children about WeatherClan?" Kestrelflight voiced something that had been bothering her since she had first found out that she was expecting kits. It wasn't a matter to be undertaken lightly: WeatherClan had specifically said that they didn't like too many cats knowing about their existence, and Kestrelflight would hate her children to be in danger because of a careless word or two from her.

"Not right away. Maybe when they're old enough to learn to keep their mouths shut," Harefur said firmly, prepared for the question and knowing exactly what answer he would give to it. Kestrelflight knew that he shared her fears about what WeatherClan could do to their children, but she also knew that Harefur wasn't as bothered as she was about it. He had confidence in their children's ability to be quiet about certain matters, and was also confident that as long as Clement was in WeatherClan, they would at least get some kind of warning. This was being rather optimistic, Kestrelflight was sure, but it was comforting to know that Harefur was so certain about it.

"Sunkit and Sparrowkit... I hope that you'll live more blessed and happy lives than your namesakes," Kestrelflight whispered to her kits as her eyes closed tiredly. She could hear Harefur also settling down beside her, not wishing to leave Kestrelflight alone with the kits for too long in case some unforeseen danger happened up the three of them.

"Of course they will. They've got us as parents, remember?" Harefur purred, a hint of smugness creeping back into his voice. Kestrelflight cracked her eyes open just a bit so that she could look at her mate. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined she would end up with _Harefur_. The journey had changed everything though, including the way she saw him. She remembered briefly how she used to declare how much she hated Harefur and how she would have loved to see him punished dearly for his 'crimes'. What an imbecile she had been.

Kestrlflight nudged Harefur affectionately with her nose, and then closed her eyes once again. Despite all that had happened, life seemed to be turning out for the better finally. Not only was she back in SkyClan, where she belonged, but she also had the most wonderful family she could ever have hoped for. Perfect was never a word that a young Kestrelpaw would have ever assigned to any aspect of her life – in fact, it had once been a word that she had detested. Now, however, it was one word that Kestrelflight felt described her current life... perfectly.

**And the end. I know that the ending sounds rather bizarre, but I just _felt_ that that was the end. I couldn't put any more without feeling dissatisfied with the whole epilogue. Now, though, I'm content with it the way it is.**

**Just a final word: Thank you so much to everybody who has ever read and/or reviewed my little story. It's really appreciated, and I'm glad that some of you guys even bothered to _look_ at it. I especially want to say a huge thank you to:**

**World of Make Believe for reviewing the first few chapters even though they were awful. **

**Heartwin (previously known by a dozen other names :) ) for sticking with this story, liking it and never failing to point out the bright side even though I was often down-hearted about my writing abilities. If I had a whole bunch of chocolates biscuits, I'd give them to you. As I don't, you're just going to have to accept my sincere thanks for every review you've ever written on my stories. I appreciate also the fact that you, along with the rest of my reviewers, haven't shied away from giving me some sorely needed criticism when you thought I deserved it. Thank you :). **

**Before The Winter's Dawn for reading my story and reviewing it, even though I haven't been a very faithful reviewer to your stories. Many thanks go to you, too. And take an invisible chocolate biscuit with my love, please. **

**KittyKatWaterstar (interesting name) also for taking the time to review my story. Thank you so much! **

**And to all those who may review/read my stories after I have written this, thank you again!**

**Love to you all,**

**~Through Another's Eyes~**


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